


The Contingent Protector

by AdinESmith



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Falling In Love, Family Secrets, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Prince Mark Lee (NCT), What is Good and Evil?, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29588574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdinESmith/pseuds/AdinESmith
Summary: When the King and Queen of Gwadong offer up a deal to their citizens, no commoner thinks anyone in their right mind would agree to take on the Prince's curse, even if they get to spend a week in the castle demanding whatever they want. However, one man, Nakamoto Yuta, just might be crazy enough to defy his sisters' warnings and agree to take the deal. On the 7th day of his stay, Prince Mark's unknown curse will be transferred to him, the time before spent however Yuta chooses.Which means Yuta has only one week to spend with Prince Mark... but destiny never quite takes the path most expected. With a past vendetta against the royal family, protecting Mark isn't the only thing Yuta will end up planning for.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32
Collections: Kingdom Come Round One





	The Contingent Protector

#  The Past

_ Every Kingdom has it’s fair share of tales and legends. Stories of long old heroes slaying beasts and saving royal families.  _

_ The reign of King and Queen Lee is no happy tale for storytellers to recount at bars while townsfolk laugh and drink. Bards’ songs are somber and dark, for the reign of the Lee Monarchs is no ray of sunshine in the history of the Gwadong Kingdom.  _

_ Lee Migyung was the second daughter of her father, the King, and her older sister was set to inherit the throne. Around her age of coronation, the elder daughter went missing and the King drove himself mad in the search for her. This left Migyung as the only one to take the throne, and she did so shamelessly. Upon the transfer of power, rumors that maybe she had ordered the disappearance of her sister spread, but the stance she held on the throne prevented anyone from confirming them. She ruled ruthlessly as a young dictator, only 20 years old, rejecting her subjects' requests and implementing harsh laws. Migyung had no compassion for anyone, and even the nobles she pretended to care for had no room in her heart. It was thought that the only thing she would ever love was power and riches.  _

_ Lee Doyun was just as malicious and cold-hearted as Migyung. He was the son of a noble family and met Migyung through the countless bodacious events thrown for the rich. These parties were, of course, paid for by the subject’s overcharged tax money. It came as a surprise when the two genuinely fell in love, but upon thought, it made sense to all. With similar interests in power and treasure, they married soon and created a reign over the kingdom so cruel and fearful that neighboring Kingdoms didn’t even dare to try and approach them.  _

_ Together, the two monarchical dictators banned any and all magic from the Kingdom to ensure no uprisings would come. They did hire and allow one warlock in the Kingdom however, and he has been allowed to live within the castle since.  _

_ After living through three painful years of marriage, the townsfolk could bear it all no longer. With their two bravest soldiers leading, they approached a banished sorceress and asked for a way to cut down the rulers. She refused at first, but the two trusted soldiers visited her again without telling the townsfolk and convinced her to help them. The sorceress did not tell them of her plan, but assured them everything would fall into place eventually.  _

_ At this time, the Queen, Migyung, had given birth to a cute and healthy baby boy named Lee Minhyung: although colloquially he would become known as “Mark.” Now with an heir, they could raise him under their ways to solidify themselves in the history of the Kingdom forever.  _

_ When Minhyung’s christening arrived, and all the nobles gathered in the throne hall to adore the newest royal, the sorceress made her own appearance as well. She easily burst in and commanded the King and Queen to end their tyrannous reign. They refused, of course, so the sorceress began to chant. The room turned dark and all of the shadows converged, circling the sorceress as she slowly rose into the air. The warlock tried to stop her, but the shadows kept him back. When the sorceress finished chanting, the air froze. Then, all of the shadows dived and went into the tiny baby sleeping in the cot. Migyung and Doyun screamed for their child and rushed to him.  _

_ “I’ve cursed him to show you just how much pain your people go through because of you. Now your own son will suffer for eternity because of your choices.” _

_ With a flick of her hand, the sorceress was gone, leaving the cursed child crying for his parents.  _

_ At first, the King and Queen stayed alert, until they began to doubt there was a curse at all. The warlock had no idea what kind of curse the sorceress had cast on the child. It wasn’t until Mark turned 4 that they began to notice strange happenings.  _

_ He’d often trip, randomly, when there was nothing to trip on. Or randomly get hurt from seemingly nothing. His hair would constantly be messed up, and he said he couldn’t sleep at night because it felt like someone or something was intensely watching him. As the warlock scrambled to figure out what was going on, knowing it wasn’t clumsiness, he was shocked when he saw something horrifying. The shadow of the young prince was moving on it’s own. He watched as a shadowy, black hand reached up and ruffled it’s hair, and consequently Mark’s hair suddenly moved and stood up. Everything made sense after that. _

_ “I’ve figured out his curse,” he reported immediately to the Queen and King. _

_ “Tell us. Now.” _

_ The warlock took a deep breath. “It’s his shadow. He’s going to be tormented by his own shadow and possible other’s for his entire life.” After hearing that, the two rulers practically smashed their entire throne room. They demanded the warlock find a way to break the curse. He had to swallow and brace himself when he spoke next. “Curses cannot be broken.” _

_ Somehow the warlock escaped the room with his life while the sound of smashing and screaming went on behind him in the throne room. After that day though, he was commanded to go out and search for a way to rid of the curse, despite it’s ability to never be broken. The Prince was locked inside the castle to hide his symptoms from the Kingdom and keep him safe from strong shadows.  _

_ It wasn’t until 17 years later that the warlock returned with good news.  _

_ He found a way to transfer the curse.  _

  
  


🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  17 Years Later

In a little flower shop located on the street that leads just into the main market, Yuta stands, staring at the royal guard swiftly making their way to the center of the commotion. He watches as they hop up onto a crate and unfurl a parchment scroll—one from the castle. Yuta knows this because it’s way fancier than any paper you can find in town: they don’t even sell full length scrolls here anymore. 

Most of the people don’t pay him any attention; they continue pushing and shoving, grabbing the produce they need and scrambling for any fallen coins to pay for it with. 

“Looking at all that food won’t make you any less hungry,” a voice says from behind him. A small hand lands on his shoulder and Yuta smiles as he turns to face his coworker, best friend, and confidant: Ten.

“I think there’s about to be an announcement from the King and Queen.”

Ten groans and crosses his arms. “They better not be collecting another wave of taxes again, I barely survived the last one and I’m  _ still _ paying off one from three months ago.”

Yuta shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s that.”

“Then what?” 

Just as Yuta shrugs, there’s a loud, frugal, note played from a royal horn. The entire market square stops and turns to face the announcer, knowing they’ll want, and need, to hear this. 

“Subjects of Gwadong, I am here on behalf of Queen Lee Migyung and King Lee Doyun,” the announcer shouts, “I bring good news to you all today. As you know, the royal Warlock has searched for the past seventeen years to find a way to remove the horrid curse cast upon our innocent Prince Lee Minhyung. He has returned from his voyage and discovered a crucial process that will grant the ability to transfer the curse over to one generous subject who wishes to do so. Whoever steps forward to take on this honorous position, will be granted a week's stay in the castle complete with whatever they desire. Banquets, personal service, conqubines, jewelry, are all examples of possible wishes.”

The royal guard takes a few seconds for the hushed whispers of the crowd to die down before taking a deep breath and continuing to read. 

“At the end of that one week, the curse will harmlessly be transferred to you, and you will be known as a great hero throughout the Kingdom, because you will have gloroiously saved your Prince, and future ruler’s, life. All who wish to take on this quest may come to the gates of the castle for a short questionnaire, and then we will choose one amongst those who come to be our victor.”

“Sounds preachy,” Ten comments, “and majorly sugar coated. Seriously, it’s like they know no one would ever want to help their spawn. He’s literally the spawn of the devil. Two devils to be precise!”

Yuta swallows and doesn’t take his eyes off the guard who’s slowly pushing his way through the crowd again. “I don’t know. That one week of whatever you want does sound tempting.” He turns around to see Ten raising an eyebrow at him. “Just kidding,” Yuta adds quickly, then he laughs a little. 

“Come on, we still have some orders to finish.” Ten walks back into the flower shop, holding the door for his friend. Taking one last look back at the castle guard, Yuta shakes his head and follows Ten inside. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

Yuta refills his sister’s cup with water and sets it in front of her, then he sits down, ready to finally eat his bread. Ayaka, his younger sister by 4 years, thanks him, then continues chomping on her meal. 

The door swings open and the clatter of a sword being thrown to the ground sounds in their tiny abode. 

“I’m home,” Shina, his older sister, grunts while putting her slippers on. 

“I hope you aren’t going to be leaving that blade by the door where we could easily trip on it,” Yuta tells her. She glares at him and plops into the last empty chair at the table. 

“Welcome home,” Ayaka says between bites. 

Shina sighs and leans back into the chair, melting into it. “What do we have to eat?”

“Well,” Yuta responds, getting up again, “we have bread and jam, or, jam and bread.”

“I’ll take the jam and bread tonight.”

“Excellent.” He prepares a sandwich quickly for her, making sure to pile on a bit of extra jam for her. Most days Shina returns exhausted from her work at the castle; he imagines walking around and guarding places and training other newbie guards will make you pretty tired. Plus, the armor does not look the lightest. 

“Thanks.” For a few minutes, the three of them eat in silence, just happy to have something to appease their growling stomachs. Shina slows down a bit while Ayaka gets up to make herself another sandwich. Bread and jam isn’t their only food, but they choose one day a week to have it for dinner, another day for lunch, and another for breakfast. They can have it other days too of course, but it’s the cheapest to buy from the market so this rotational system makes sure they are able to save up a little each week for emergencies. 

“How was work today?” Ayaka asks the fated question to her older sister, and Yuta braces himself. Usually he’s prepared to block out her thirty minutes of complaining, but today he’s actually a bit interested. 

“Nothing happened,” Shina tells them, “and that’s not a good thing. Not a single person came to the gate, which I honestly expected, but the King and Queen were pissed then. They’re even adding extra shifts so there’s more people waiting at the gates overnight, just in case anyone comes.”

Yuta pokes his sandwich. “Do you think anybody will ever go?”

“Hard to tell. There’s a possibilty a noble might send one of their children, but I can guarantee no townsperson will take that offer. I mean, it’s only one week and the wishes can only be granted within the castle, they can’t be taken outside. So it’s pretty much useless.”

“But then… what will happen to Minhyung?”

“Yuta,” Shina says directly to him. They make direct eye contact and he knows his sister can see through him. She’s always been able to guess his next moves, what he’s planning, what he’s thinking. “All the other guards and I will protect Mark for his entire life. Even if no one takes on the curse right away, it will happen. They’ll force somebody if they have to. It’ll be fine.” Yuta doesn’t look away. 

Ayaka clears her throat from beside them. “Okay, are you guys done because I’m going to clear the table now. I’m supposed to meet Dahyun and Mina by the fountain square.”

They both turn away from each other to stare down their younger sibling. Shina gets to speak first, “You aren’t going to be out late right?”

“Where are you three going? Who else are you meeting?” Yuta asks, following his sister’s question. 

Ayaka rolls her eyes. “I’ll be back normal time, before twelve. We're going to the tavern to meet Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon and a few others. It’s Chaeyoung’s birthday, remember?”

“Alright,” Shina says. 

As Ayaka takes their empty plates away, she frowns a bit. “You two know I’m 21 now, you don’t need to watch over me as much anymore. I’ll be okay. Just focus on yourselves. We’re all adults here, and all of us can make our own decisions and do our own things.”

Yuta and Shina look at each other once more, knowing she’s right. Neither can accept it yet.

“We know,” Yuta says, “Sorry, we’re still… you know, getting used to that.”

Ayaka snorts. “I’ve been an adult for almost 3 years now but take all the time you need.” She quickly scrubs off their plates, then dries her hands and reaches for a light jacket. 

“I hope you scrubbed those well,” Shina half-shouts.

“Yeah, yeah,” the younger says while rushing out the door. She waves a little, then is gone behind their wooden exit. With her gone, it’s quieter within the house. The lantern is almost out of oil so Yuta goes to refill it. Shina gets up and rewashes the dishes, making sure to wipe off every spot. 

“If you’re planning to do what I think you are,” Shina starts, “Don’t.”

Yuta freezes. “I wasn’t going to, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m just, concerned.” 

“I know. But-”

“Shina,” he turns to her, “I wasn’t thinking of taking the curse. You don’t need to worry.” She frowns at him and puts the plates down. 

“I’ll always worry, you know that.”

“And so will I.” 

The silence takes over once more, a slight tension between them in the air. Yuta turns back to the lantern and refills it, the light growing as he does so. Then, he wipes the few crumbs off the table and rearranges the chairs in order. 

With the dishes finished and dried, Shina walks over to him and places her hand on his arm. “I am trusting you.” His heart drops. Yuta slowly nods and turns to smile at his sister. 

“Thank you.” He knows he’s about to shatter that trust into a million glass pieces. She’s going to be angry. It’s easy to make her upset, when he jokes too much or touches her books and swords, but to make Shina mad you really have to do something serious. And this’ll qualify for sure. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  11:27 PM | Day 1

About the time Ayaka comes home, Yuta prepares to leave. He grabs his only valuable belongings: a book in his first language, a small drawing of him and his siblings, and a chain necklace. As Ayaka enters her room, loudly stomping, he quietly heads down the stairs to the kitchen and grabs a small bag, placing his few items in there. He slips a note onto the table and slowly opens the door, making sure to create absolutely zero noise. If he did make any though, Shina would think it’s just Ayaka stumbling to her room. Ayaka would probably think it was herself. 

Successfully out of the house, he stares back at the darkness inside and takes a shaky breath. “You know why I have to do this,” he whispers. His sisters will understand his reasoning behind what he’s about to do, but if they’ll ever forgive him for doing it is another thing. 

Yuta says goodbye to the house and makes his way through the empty streets, sticking to the shadows so no one will see. He climbs his way slowly through the twisting pathways and paces up the many stairs leading to the top of the Kingdom. The castle has always stood before him, but approaching it this close once more makes it look different. When he was younger, it was huge and all the shapes blurred together: it had looked like a solid white block. Now though, he can spot every detail and every winding ivy stem branched upon the sides. The massive garden is just behind the castle to the left, and even through the night he can see a few fountains lit up. 

Three guards at the gate stop him. They look exhausted and groggy, probably having given an extra shift for the night. 

“Stop, what are you doing?” one lazily asks, barely holding their sword above their waist. 

Yuta takes a deep breath and takes one step forward. “I’m here to take on the Prince’s curse.” Their eyes widen. The two other guards by the gate hear it too and straighten up, leaning in a bit to hear. 

“Uh, kid, are you sure that’s what you’re here for?” one guard asks. As Yuta nods, another guard slaps the first. 

“If he’s here for that, he’s here for that.” They turn to him and smile, fake-ly. “So brave, and you’re our first volunteer.”

Yuta gives an equally fake and weak smile back. “Yep. Now, what are these questions you have to ask me?”

“Right. Name.”

“Nak- uh, Na Yuta.”

The guards all tilt their heads. “You’re Shina’s little brother aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“She let you come here?” The guard that asks receives death glares from the others and Yuta almost laughs, but he keeps himself composed. 

“No, my sister doesn’t know I’m here,” Yuta tells them. 

Their apparent leader clears their throat. “Okay, well, um, age?”

“25.”

“We already know your family, so the last questions are just occupation and if you have a significant other or whatever.”

“Also tell us why you’ve decided to come,” another chimes in. 

Yuta answers plainly, “I work at a flower shop, I’m single, and I want to take on the curse for the Prince.”

They all three blink at him for a few seconds, then part as the leader nods and leads him towards the gate. The two guards standing by open it for them and Yuta is led towards the entrance into the castle, heart pounding and hands sweating.

He’s led directly to the throne room, a place he’s only ever seen but never been inside of. Before entering, Yuta deeply breaths in and shuts his memories out, focusing on one thing only.

“Your highnesses, I present Na Yuta, he’s here to take on the curse for Prince Mark,” the guard speaks while bowing. Yuta was already bowing since the moment he stepped into the room, not wanting to look anywhere but the bright red carpet and stone floor tiles. He waits for them to speak, bracing to hear their voices once more.

“Did you ask him all the questions?” A woman's voice asks. Lee Migyung. 

“Yes. He’s 25 years old, works in a flower shop near the market, is single-”

“Thank you, you’re dismissed, we’ll talk with him now.” Yuta raises his head slightly to see the guard scurry away and out of the room. He’s left alone. “Raise your head boy.”

Hesitantly, Yuta lifts his head, but still keeps his eyes down. More of the room is still revealed and the sight pokes around in his head, reminding him of the last time he saw the decorations and stone walls and glass cases with shining treasures displayed in them. 

The King speaks next. “Na Yuta. Why have you come to take on the curse?”

Yuta’s eyes flicker up to the two monarchs but quickly look away. “I want to help our Prince.”

The Queen clicks her tongue. “You seem familiar Mr. Na, have you or your parents ever attended any events in the castle?”

“I highly doubt it,” Yuta says, giving them a small, sad smile. “I’m an orphan. My parents died when I was very young, and they never had the privilege to see the inside of the castle.”

“No parents? Interesting.” As the King says it, Yuta’s blood begins to boil. What exactly about your parents being dead is “interesting.” Specifically the King saying it makes him want to punch every glass container in there. 

“Well, I think the King and I agree that you seem quite adequate for the job, we’ll have our warlock make sure your body can handle the transfer then see if the position is yours.” The Queen slams a staff next to her loudly three times until the doors open behind Yuta and someone enters. The man is dressed in fancy robes and has a certain glow about him, it’s almost purple and sparkly. “Inspect our candidate.” The Queen commands and flicks her hand. The man, who Yuta assumes to be the warlock, turns to him and raises a hand. He closes his eyes and mumbles something, then a purple light shines from his hand. A circle appears around Yuta and floats up and down, scanning his entire body. 

It only takes a few seconds until the warlock’s eyes fly open and the circle dissipates. 

“His body is perfectly compatible. It’s quite amazing actually.”

The Queen stands and Yuta turns to look at her. As he looks at her, a heavy distaste forms in his mouth. “How wonderfully coincidental.”

“Na Yuta, you’ve been accepted to take on the Prince’s curse, there is no backing out now. For one week before receiving the transfer you’ll be granted whatever you desire  _ within _ the castle. You cannot request the Queen or myself for anything. You cannot wish for anything to be given for anyone except yourself. You cannot ask for ridiculous amounts of things. If we see you causing trouble, you’ll lose your privileges here and the transfer will be immediate. Is everything understood?”

He wasn’t expecting it to happen that fast but Yuta nods.

“Your week starts now. Any questions?”

Yuta can tell from her tone the Queen wasn’t actually asking if he had any questions, but he ignores it. “When am I able to see Prince Mark?”

Both rulers look at one another, then give him a strange look. “Well, I guess you may meet him now. But do not bother him much throughout the week. You,” she points to the warlock, “go fetch my son.” The warlock nods and swiftly makes his way out of the room. 

Realizing he’s alone in the room with the rulers once more, Yuta looks around the room a bit. “May I ask another question?” He speaks. The King nods. “What is the curse?”

“That,” the Queen pronounces fiercely, “is something you’ll be informed about at the end of your week.” There’s silence in the room as they wait for the warlock to return. Yuta can feel their eyes on him, looking him up and down and observing every tiny move he makes. 

Finally, the doors open once more and the warlock enters with a sleepy eyed man. Yuta can’t help but stare. 

He’s  _ cute _ . 

His little ruffled hair, clearly just having been woken, and the sparkling brown eyes barely open. Despite Yuta knowing Mark is a grown adult, he looks tiny. The Prince is wearing glasses as well and each step is slightly slurred, weighed down by his desire to go back to bed. 

Mark tucks some stray strands of hair behind his ears and nods to his parents, then he turns to Yuta. They make eye contact. Yuta smiles and the younger squints at him. 

“Mark, this is the man who has volunteered to take your curse, Na Yuta. He wanted to meet you.”

The Prince’s eyes widen for the first time and he steps closer to Yuta. As he does so, the desire to hug Mark bursts in his heart, but he holds back. It would be quite…weird to randomly hug the Prince. Also improper, but the only person who would know the reasoning behind it would be Yuta himself: he can’t do that yet. 

“Did you really come here....are you really…” Mark seems to struggle to comprehend that Yuta is actually here to help him. 

Yuta nods and flashes another smile at the Prince. “Yes.” He was going to say more, about how he really is here to take on his pain, to keep him safe, to protect him, but he holds back for now. As he confirms it though, the Prince’s eyes lose a bit of their sparkle. He instinctively takes one step towards him, ready to do whatever’s necessary to bring back that gleam. 

The King clears his throat and Yuta snaps out of it, immediately stepping back. “Why don’t we all go sit down and have a meal?” Despite it being midnight now, Yuta can’t deny the hunger still not completely satisfied from his bread and jam sandwich. The Queen points to the door and begins to descend the stairs from her throne. Yuta waits until both have passed him, bowing while they walk by, then turns to follow. He still bows, waiting for Mark to go ahead, but the Prince doesn’t move. When Yuta looks up, the other has his mouth open, seemingly about to say something. The warlock places a hand on the Prince’s shoulder and he closes his mouth, turning away from Yuta and following his parents out. Yuta takes a deep breath and exits the room last in line. 

He’s taken to a dining hall, which he assumes isn’t their biggest, that’s eloquently decorated with gold hanging chains and shining silk curtains covering the windows. Despite it being late at night and the light from the windows being covered, the room is very well lit with a large chandelier above and mounted gold lanterns around the room. The entire area emits a golden glow. 

Yuta is seated on the left side of the table, a few chairs away from the King and Queen who are at the head. Mark is by their side on the right, staring into his plate as a few pastries are piled on by buzzing servants. Looking down at his own plate, Yuta reminds himself to not messily dig in in front of the Queen and King. He paces himself, secretly drooling over the delicacies given to him and relishing the taste of whatever sweet, but tangy, drink that was poured. 

“So, Yuta, tell us a little about your daily life, what was your home life like as well?” Yuta swallows and looks over at the Queen. He notices neither of the monarchs are eating, simply drinking, while Mark gently pops some tarts into his mouth. 

“Ah, well, it wasn’t very exciting to be honest. I’d wake up and go to work, spend the day there and fulfill orders. After my shift it’d usually be quite late so I’d head straight home and prepare dinner, then sleep and repeat.”

The Queen clicks her tongue again. “You don’t do anything when you are off work?” Yuta forces a smile. He wants to scream in her face that he never is not working because of her tyrannous rule that forces him to do so to stay alive and keep his sisters alive too. He can’t do that, though. And he knows that’s not the only thing he wants to yell at her about, so he keeps it all inside. 

“Sometimes my friend from work will force me to hang out with him and his boyfriend somewhere in town. Otherwise, I’ll catch up on sleep or find a new book to read from the library.”

Mark raises his head for the first time. “You like reading?” His voice sounds happy, and the glow from the lanterns is reflected in his eyes. Smiling, Yuta nods to the Prince, then downs the rest of his drink. 

As Yuta reaches for the last item on his plate, the King summons the warlock over. “Kun, please escort Yuta to his room here and fulfill any requests he has for the night. Make sure his closet is well prepared as well. It’s time for Mark, my wife, and I to go to bed.” He quickly stuffs the pastry in his mouth whole and dusts the crumbs off his lap. Yuta folds the napkin from his lap up like his parents taught him and leaves it atop his empty plate, then, he allows himself to be led out of the room. 

His new sleeping quarters are bigger than anything he’s ever dreamed of. Along with the massive bed and fluffed pillows, there’s an entire separate room full of clothes and his own master bathroom. A little seating area is on one side of the room and dressing area on the other. Yuta sets his small bag down on one of the tables and takes out his few items before a servant can do so. He feels a bit embarrassed to be given all this space but have only brought four things. The drawing of him and his sisters he hides from the other’s view and quickly stuffs in a drawer next to his bed. 

“Is there anything we can get you, Master Na?” The warlock asks from behind him. Yuta almost laughs at the title. 

“For starters, you don’t have to call me Master Na, just Yuta.”

He doesn’t expect it but the warlock physically drops his shoulder and deeply sighs. “Thank goodness, nothing against you but it’s nice to know you aren’t a stuck up… person like them.” That does make Yuta laugh a bit. 

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m just a commoner from town but I’m not here to pretend like I’m a prince for a week.”

“I’m Qian Kun,” the warlock introduces himself. 

“Nice to meet you. I know you already know my name, so I think we can skip that part.”

“So, Yuta, is there anything you want for the night?”

Yuta thinks for a few seconds. There’s so much already, he can’t imagine asking for anything else. “I don’t know, I mean… I’ve got nice clothes in that room, a bed, amazing food… and I can probably figure out how to turn on the bath. Not really no, I don’t know what else to ask for?”

“Understood, it’s all probably a bit overwhelming. I still haven’t adjusted after my seventeen years away from here.”

Yuta tilts his head. “Forgive me for asking but, how old  _ are _ you? You look really young.”

Kun laughs. “I’m 24.” 

“What...” That would mean Kun is a year  _ younger _ than him. That’s not possible? Seventeen years ago he would have been five and before that the warlock had been working for the Queen since she first took the throne several years prior. 

“I’m immortal.”

“But you said you’re 24?”

“Easier than saying 240 years old. Essentially, I am equivalent to the human age of a 24 year old.” 

“Well then.” Yuta is still reeling from this information but Kun is the first magic user he’s ever met so this is bound to be new to him. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing you around then.”

“Me too, good night Yuta.” As Kun turns to leave, Yuta does think of one last thing. 

“Hey Kun.”

“Hm?”

“Is there possibly one thing I can request?”

Kun nods. “Yeah, whatever you want! We’re here to serve you.”

“Is it possible,” he takes a deep breath, “that the Prince could come over so I could talk to him?”

He already knows the answer when Kun frowns. “Sorry, that’s one of the things I can’t do. We’re not supposed to bother Prince Mark when he’s sleeping. Maybe tomorrow you can find him?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to disturb his sleep, thanks. Night.” 

Kun nods and leaves the room, the other servants exiting as well. Shaking his head at himself, Yuta walks into the bathroom and locates the bath. It takes a few minutes but he’s able to draw himself a nice warm bath with sweet scented bubbles. The minute he steps in, the warmth overtakes his entire body and Yuta relaxes into the water. All the grime washes off and his hair flows free, a feeling he’s never gotten to experience before. 

As he sits in the refreshing environment, Yuta finally lets his mind wander from the day. He had kept all his thoughts under control, focusing only on reaching the castle since first hearing that announcement. Now, his heart sinks as he thinks of how his sisters will react when they find out. Shina will be furious. Ayaka, he can only hope, won’t be too upset. It’s only one week—they’ll understand, right?

He lowers his head into the water, keeping his nose above the surface and blowing some bubbles with his mouth.  _ It’s going to be okay.  _ Yuta knows what he’s doing. For his entire life he’s waited for this purpose, in whatever form it came in. Finally he can honor his parents and do as they asked. 

After his bath, Yuta dries off quickly and chooses a silky pair of pajamas from the thousands of choices. Then, he lets himself drift into sleep, snuggled into the soft mattress and comforting pillows. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  Day 2

Woken up in the morning by bustling servants, Yuta lets them know he can dress himself and spends a half hour sorting through all the clothes before finally picking an outfit. It almost feels shameful to wear the neatly ironed clothes when he knows his friends and family will never have access to anything like this. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t choose anything too fancy, just a simple outfit consisting of a button up loose, light blue shirt that tucks into fitting black pants. He chooses a small jacket and slings it over his shoulder, in case it gets cold inside, then rolls up his sleeves and makes for the dining room. 

The eating area is empty besides the servant and guards waiting on him. Yuta awkwardly eats his breakfast, which is delicious and extremely filling. He wishes he could steal some of this and bring it back to his sister. Shina has always had a sweet tooth and Ayaka can figure out how to bake anything by just looking at it. Closer to the end of the week he’ll swipe some pastries and such; they’d go bad if he stashes them now. 

After his elaborate meal, Yuta doesn’t know what to do. For his whole life he’s spent his days working: ever since he was twelve. At first it was temp jobs or delivery for locals; then he met Ten, whose Dad owns the flower shop, and was thankfully hired for life. His days have been filled with gardenias and hydrangeas and arrangements ever since. Ten’s boyfriend, Johnny, offered Yuta a position at his mechanics shop once, but he refused the position. Back then, Yuta thought he was going to become a guard in the castle. 

Kun doesn’t seem to be around anywhere, so Yuta decides to stroll the grounds. He’s always wanted to see that garden up close; there’s probably tons of flower species he’s never seen in the shop before. 

Yuta stops just before the exit. The courtyard. He has to cross the courtyard in order to reach the garden, but the courtyard is where soldier’s training happens early in the morning. Meaning, he could run into Shina: he doesn’t think he could handle that right now. Besides, Yuta never told the King and Queen about his sisters. 

He sighs and pivots, ready to explore some other area and possibly find the library, when he spots someone. Standing in the middle of the hallway, engrossed in some book in his hands, is the Prince, Mark. The boy isn’t paying attention to anything except the words on the page so Yuta gently approaches, cautious not to scare him.

“Hello, Prince Mark.” Yuta bows but he sees Mark jump a bit at the words. 

“Oh, he-hello,” he scrambles a bit, “Good morning Yuta. Are you enjoying the castle this morning, and your stay so far?”

Raising his head, Yuta smiles at him, happy he used his name. “Yes, it’s very lovely here.”

Mark stares up at him, that same sparkle in his eyes that Yuta had seen before. Yuta wonders how anyone can handle staring into his bubbly eyes each and every day. He’s lucky to just see them once. 

The Prince clears his throat. “Well, that’s good. I have things to get back to, so... enjoy your day.” Mark begins to walk past Yuta, but he can’t let go the chance to actually meet the Prince. 

“Wait–” Mark suddenly trips, and Yuta’s reflexes work, catching him in his arms. He looks down at Mark, worried he’s been hurt. “Are you okay?”

“Ye-yes, um…” Yuta realizes Mark cuts out because he’s still stuck in Yuta’s arms; he quickly separates from him. He notices the dropped book and picks it up, handing it to the shaken up Prince. “Sorry, thanks.”

Yuta chuckles a little. “Careful, I don’t think it’ll be good if you fall for me.”

The Prince’s face reddens. “Wh-what? What are you saying?”

“Oh, sorry, it was just a joke.” Now Yuta feels like an idiot. He realizes he just flirted with  _ the  _ Prince. Shina is going to kill him. “Seriosuly, be careful though.”

“I will…” Mark’s eyes survey him up and down, then he turns away, hugging the book to his chest. Yuta bites his lip, knowing he shouldn’t call after him, but he wants to talk to Mark about something.

“Prince Mark, I’m sorry but,” he catches up to him, “is it alright if I accompany you to where you’re going? I just wanted to meet you and talk for a bit.”

Mark looks over at him quickly. “Um. Sure?” Yuta can tell how awkward this is. What’s more, he doesn’t want to come off as stalkerish to Mark, because he’s not stalking Mark. He grew up learning about Mark through his parents, and they made him want to befriend Mark so badly. Everything he heard about the Prince has made Yuta believe he is the complete opposite from his parents. That innocence needs to be protected. 

They enter a study room, and Mark points out a seat for him at a table. He sits on the opposite side and opens a few books. 

“I’m just going to be studying, so it’ll be pretty boring, sorry. You’ll probably have more fun somewhere else.”

Yuta smiles and shakes his head. “No, it’s okay. Honestly, there aren’t many others to hang out with in the castle… the servants only talk to me to ask if I want something, and most of the others around here, besides Kun, aren’t really,” he thinks for the right way to say this, “around my age.”

Mark looks up from his book. “Are we close in age?”

“I’d assume. You’re 21 right? I’m 25.”

“Four years…”

“Yes,” Yuta confirms. Then he fake pouts, “I get it, I’m an old man to you.”

A slow laugh comes from across the table, its peak a happy sound. “That’s not what I meant. I was just thinking, when I was 8 you would have been 12 correct?”

Yuta crosses his arms. “That’s right. Why?”

“It’s just,” Mark stops and shakes his head, “you look a little familiar. And I just thought, somehow, you were someone I met when I was that age. Probably not though.”

He crosses his fingers beneath the table, to help his soul feel a bit better. “I see, I’m sorry to say but this is my first time in the castle, and my first time ever meeting you or the King and Queen, so I don’t think it was me.” Yuta uncrosses his fingers. “Plus, I’d never forget meeting you.”

“Was that last part another joke?”

“No.”

“Oh.” 

Yuta curses at himself. All he’s doing is making Mark more uncomfortable, so he really needs to stop talking. Flirting is natural for him; he does it with all his friends and they know it’s his personality. The Prince though… Yuta assumed he’d had many suitors, male and female, try to court him, so a little bit of joke flirting wouldn’t be strange to him. Clearly, Yuta assumed wrong. 

It’s gone back to silence now, Mark reading his book, but Yuta can see how he’s fiddling with the dorner of the page he’s on. All this studying must be boring; Yuta is a book lover himself but even reading is too linear for him sometimes. 

“Mark.” Yuta stomps on his own toes as he says it, Mark’s eyes shoot up at him. “Prince Mark, I mean, sorry.” He takes a deep breath and smiles over at him. “Isn’t this boring? Are you planning to study all day? Why don’t we do something fun.”

That glitter in the prince’s eyes lets Yuta know he wants to say yes, but then he glances back down at his book and shakes his head. “I have to study or my parents will be upset.”

Yuta thinks for a few seconds. “Then tell them I commanded it. I can have anything I want right? And in the rules they only said I couldn’t request anything from them, not you, which means you can come with me. If you want.”

Mark seems to pause. “I guess… that would make sense.”

“See,” Yuta claps, “that’s how you find the loophole.” He chuckles to himself, pleased he found a way to spend some more time with Mark. The Prince stands and closes his book. 

“It wouldn’t hurt to miss a little bit of studying… where do you want to go? Within the castle, I’m not allowed to leave.”

“Is there a way to get to the garden without passing through the courtyard?” Yuta asks. He knows that’s such a suspicious thing to ask but he really wants to see the garden; he can confront Shina later today if he needs to but not early in the morning. 

Walking towards the door already, Mark responds, “Um, yes? There’s a stream that leads into the garden from the side so if we follow that we can get in. Why though?”

Yuta gives a weak laugh. “I’m scared of the guards.”

Mark responds with a real laugh. “Okay, not what I expected from you.”

“What, you thought I was a tough guy?” They’re out in the hall now. 

“Most people are scared to come near me, and you willingly came here to take on the curse so yeah, I thought you’d either be this macho man who wanted to prove he could take on a curse, or some greedy guy who wanted food and concubines or something.”

He can’t help but giggle. “I can promise you, I’m neither of those things.”

“I gathered that.”

Yuta tilts his head. “Then why were you surprised?”

“Because I have  _ no _ idea what you’re like anymore. No offense but ever since you got here, you’ve done some of the most random things.”

“What counts as ‘random things?’”

Mark seems to struggle a bit to form words. “Well- no, I just meant- agh, like, well you didn’t demand much of anything. And then all you wanted was to just talk to me and follow me? And you said you wanted to get to the garden by basically sneaking in instead of walking directly there.” As Yuta reflects on his actions, he holds back a laugh. He’s really screwing up on his first, technically second, day here at the castle. 

Holding open the door for Mark, the two head outside and Mark leads him away from the courtyard. Yuta eyes the surround passes for guards, making sure none are his sister. They shouldn’t be, she spends the morning training the newbies, but he still needs to be cautious. There isn’t a specific reason, but Yuta doesn’t want the King and Queen to know about his sisters. 

Actually, there is a reason, but it’s better for Yuta to tell himself there isn’t than think about it. 

“Here we are,” Mark says. He points at a small stream in front of them, it’s about four feet wide. Beyond it is forestry and another hill leading upwards. The stream twists into the forest and hides behind the thick trees, but somehow it’s supposed to end back up in the garden. Mark begins to take off his shoes. 

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, we have to walk on the stones in the stream to get there. It’s not, er, completely safe in the forest.” Yuta doesn’t question it, the forest has always seemed a bit ominous to him. Taking off his shoes as well, Yuta follows Mark as he hops onto the first stone, then the next. He copies each step, making sure not to slip on any of the wet rocks. 

He turns it into a bit of a game and hops ahead of the Prince. Mark gives him a strange look but Yuta smirks in response and continues on. It takes a little while before Mark catches on and shouts out after him, saying it’s not fair that he got a head start. Soon, the two are quickly pouncing from stone to stone, side by side almost. It’s a miracle neither has fallen in yet. 

Mark moves quickly, he seems to have memorized this pathway a long time ago. He ends up winning, jumping to the last rock just before the stream emerges into the garden. As his feet land against the stone’s surface, Yuta sees one slide forward and up. Mark’s body falls back and Yuta dashes forward, not caring to step in the water. 

For the second time today, Yuta catches Mark. He stares down at the Prince in his arms and giggles. “Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”

Mark stands up straight and pouts. “You started the race, that’s the only reason I slipped!” 

“Sure, sure.” Yuta continues giggling as he walks past the man and enters the garden. He steps onto the grass and shakes the water off his feet, then rolls up his damp pant legs. After slipping his shoes back on, Yuta is finally able to admire the garden. 

Emerging by his side, the Prince wobbles on one leg as he puts his shoes on. “Do you like it?”

Yuta can only nod, too immersed by the sight. Thousands of flowers litter the land in perfect patterns. Some create circular outlines, others twist and turn or lead up towards large stone fountains. There’s large bushes as well, perfectly trimmed with blooming buds upon them. So many colors fill his vision, Yuta’s sure he’s never even seen some of them before. He steps forward once, then again, and again. Too distracted by the flowers, Yuta doesn’t notice until he’s five feet away that Mark hasn’t followed him. He turns back and motions for the Prince to come, but then realizes that’s  _ the _ Prince and walks back towards Mark. 

“Is it okay if I just stay here?”

Yuta doesn’t let his frown show. “Why? Are you not allowed even in the garden?”

“Wha… I- of course I am haha…” His eyes flicker all over the place. This kid is such a bad liar. 

Yuta decides to play a bit though. “Then you can accompany me around the garden.”

“I…” Mark sighs, “I’m not allowed in the garden.”

“I knew you had the pathway memorized for a reason. No worries, if you want to wait here I won’t go too far. I just want to check out the flower beds.”

Mark looks hesitant but he nods. Yuta smiles and quickly walks over to an area filled with flowers. He smiles brightly at them, happy to see so many healthy colors and variations. Crouching down, Yuta begins to name all the ones he can, gently brushing his fingertips upon their delicate petals. There’s tulips and violas, irises and daffodils, even dahlias, begonias, and hyacinths. Yuta makes a note to himself to grab a couple of these before going back, so Ten can grow some to sell at the store. 

He picks a single daffodil, careful not to disturb the others around it, and takes a last look around. He’ll clearly have to come back another day to walk around the gardens. Yuta turns back to where Mark is and squints, seeing two others now speaking to him. Panic sets in; if the Prince got in trouble for being here, who knows how his parents will reprimand him. It’ll all be Yuta’s fault as well. He rushes over, daffodil in hand, approaching the guards. 

“Good afternoon,” he says to them, interrupting their discussion with the Prince. 

One faces him and glares. “Are you Na Yuta?” He nods. “Then you can confirm you brought the Prince here on an order, and he’s not here by his own will?” Phrased like that, it sounds horrible. Just how sheltered and watched  _ is  _ Mark?

“Yes, I asked him to accompany me here, is there a problem with that.”

“No,” the guard mumbles, “just don’t stay out here for too long. The King and Queen won’t be happy.” Both soldiers walk away and Yuta sighs. 

“Sorry, did you get in trouble?” 

Mark shakes his head. “Don’t worry, I rarely get in trouble, plus I used the excuse that it was an order from you.”

“Nice,” Yuta smiles at him. As he stares at the Prince though, a small movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention. Yuta looks down briefly. Under the sun and heat, he’s not sure if he sees this right, but Mark’s shadow seems to be… wavering? It’s shaking almost, but looking back up at Mark, Yuta sees the younger isn’t moving at all. In fact, he’s completely still. 

“Did you pick a flower?” Mark suddenly asks. 

“Oh, yeah, just a simple daffodil,” Yuta brings out the little yellow flower, but Mark steps back. He frowns. “Is it a problem?”

“No, I mean, it’s just, the flowers aren’t supposed to be taken out of the garden, that’s all. But I’m sure it’s fine since you’re our guest here.” He doesn’t understand why, but Mark seems panicked by the plant. Maybe he’s allergic? 

“I’ll put it back.” Yuta takes a few steps towards a nearby bed and tosses the daffodil in there. He’s sad to see it go, but it was scaring off Mark so “bye-bye flower.” When he returns, the Prince is a bit calmer. That flicker happens again though, and Yuta keeps his eyes trained on the ground. 

“Actually, I need to get back now to have lunch. My parents insist we eat it together most days.”

“Okay, I’ll come with you-”

“No,” Mark interrupts. “Sorry, I just mean that you came all this way so I think you should enjoy the garden. Don’t let my leaving prevent you from exploring.” Yuta wants to protest, but this is only his first day officially meeting Mark, he doesn’t want to push it. Mark doesn’t seem comfortable right now either, maybe it’s the garden, or maybe he just doesn’t like Yuta. That thought saddens him a bit, but he shoves it beneath a pile of dirt and forces a smile. 

“Alright, thank you for showing me the way and letting me hang out with you. Enjoy your lunch, your highness.” Yuta bows and looks up, he winks at Mark who snaps his head away almost immediately. “Before you go, I have one last question.”

“Go ahead.”

“What is the curse?” 

Mark blinks at him several times, then looks everywhere but where Yuta stands. “Um, I can’t really tell you that.” He’s shuffling from foot to foot and Yuta understands. 

“Don’t worry about it then, I’ll find out at the end of the week. For now, I’ll just enjoy this garden.” The Prince smiles, relieved, at him and nods. 

“Goodbye Yuta.”

“Goodbye Mark, for now.” 

The Prince, shoes in hand, leaps onto the first rock, then pounces to the next and the next until he’s headed off into the forest. Yuta sighs after he’s gone, hoping the boy won’t trip on his way back. 

He does as Mark told him to and explores the gardens, marveling at the complicated layouts, filled with many colorful plants and intricate decors. Several guards scattered around give him strange looks, but usually one whispers something to the other, probably explaining that Yuta’s the honored guest, and then they go back to standing straight. 

As he peruses through the gardens, Yuta thinks more and more about a certain person he’ll have to face eventually. Debating whether or not to get it over now or give it some more time, he paces back and forth near a stone fountain. If he talks to her now, all her anger might not have bubbled over yet so he’s just upset her further. On the contrary, if Yuta decides to wait a few days before approaching Shina, then she’ll probably be upset for not talking to her sooner. Either way, he’ll have to face an angered sister. 

A whistle rings through the air and Yuta squints to watch as the guards in the courtyard are dismissed from training. If he’s going to do this today, now’s the chance. Yuta makes a quick decision and strides over towards the area, exiting the garden and its safety. He spots his target, standing tall, clad in silver armor, and looking all around at her bumbling students. 

He stills his shaking hands and clears his throat. “Shina-”

She whips around, holding a sword up; it hangs just centimeters away from his neck. When Shina sees who it is, the weapon is lowered, but a glower stays on her face. 

“Shina, I know you’re upset at me but please listen.” She doesn’t respond. The sword is shoved back into it’s sheath, making a  _ shing _ sound as it does so. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes. I think you already know why I’m taking on the curse for Mark. It’s the same reason you became a Guard here at the castle.”

Shina begins to walk away, turning from her brother. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy but the silent treatment does still hurt. Yuta matches her pace, catching up to her side. 

“We both know how important it is to protect Mark, and we’re both doing it in the way we can-”

“No,” she whips around, glaring intensely, “you  _ think _ you’re doing it in the way you can, but this isn’t how you can protect Mark. Mom and Dad made it clear that we weren’t to throw our lives away while protecting him, otherwise how would we keep him safe in the future? How are you going to protect him after all this when you’ve got a curse to deal with? Do you think you can just return to normal life after it gets transferred over?”

“I-”

“No, clearly you didn’t think about all that. And what about Ayaka? She’s home alone now until I’m able to get there, which is always some god awful hour in the middle of the night.”

“She’s an adult Shina, she doesn’t need us to babysit her anymore,” Yuta states plainly. Shina shakes her head, but her fists release as she calms herself. 

“Fine. But that’s not what I’m most worried about.”

Yuta nods. “You have a right to be angry, I know. What is it you’re worried about?” His sister sighs and crosses her arms, holding each with the other. 

“It’s just…” Shina looks down, “there’s always been talk about the curse. No one actually knows  _ what _ it is. And the Prince is rarely let out of the castle. It makes everyone, not just me, suspicious as to what it might entail. If it’s something horrible and painful…”

He raises his hand and places it on her shoulder. “I understand, but I’ve chosen to take on the curse for a reason. Whatever it is, it’ll be better that Prince Mark doesn’t have to deal with it anymore, even if I have to suffer for a bit. But I promise, I will return to you and Ayaka.” Shina looks up, shaking eyes that are glossed over.

She shrugs his hand off and punches him playfully on the shoulder, but because of her metal armor Yuta winces at it a bit. He laughs gently though, glad she is able to be playful while still upset with him. 

“You better keep that promise, or that punch will be a lot harder next time.”

Yuta smiles, chuckling. “Have I ever broken a promise before?” Shina rolls her eyes but smiles at him; she knows he never has. 

“Alright, but I would advise figuring out what the curse is as soon as you can, so you’ll be prepared when it’s transferred over. And just because I let you make that promise, doesn’t mean I’m not still okay with this.”

“I know.”

“Good. Because I’m not going to speak with you for the rest of the week. I don’t think it’s a good idea for people to see us hanging out. And I’m still mad.”

Yuta nods. “Don’t worry, some guards may know who I am but I made sure the King and Queen know nothing of you or Ayaka. They think I’m just some poor orphan. Which, I am, but the rest of the details I left out.”

“Keep it that way. I’m leaving now, my next shift starts in two minutes.” Shina begins to walk away, raising a hand up to wave goodbye. 

“Take care, numpty,” Yuta calls out after her. She turns and sticks her tongue out. 

“You better not get yourself killed butthead!” While she heads off into the distance, Yuta lets his happy moment fade while he begins to think more seriously. Shina may have let him continue with this, but that’s because she knows there’s nothing that will stop Yuta. He’s a stubborn kid when he wants to be. Underneath, she is probably still brimming with vexation for his actions, but keeping it low because she’s at work. Yuta doesn’t expect to be able to speak with her until this is all over. 

If that’s so, then all he can do is try and figure out the curse, for Shina’s sake. It’s probably not bad, and once he let’s Shina know, she’ll let him protect Mark in his way. 

“The King and Queen definitely won’t budge about it,” Yuta mumbles to himself, “and no guard will even speak to me… which leaves Mark.” Prince Mark seems the easiest to pry on about the topic, but he definitely can’t ask him when others are around. Strange, in order to protect Mark, Yuta will have to interrogate him on… how to protect him. 

Shaking his head, Yuta makes it inside and begins planning for the rest of the day.

🃁🃁🃁🃁

When night falls, Yuta enacts his plan. Well, it’s less of a plan and more of a casual “sneaking.” He locates where Mark’s room is, having asked Kun earlier in the day, and heads directly for it. Three guards are posted outside his room; they weren’t there earlier in the day.  _ Drat, must be only at night they’re here.  _

Yuta walks up to one, offering his best and sweetest smile. “Good afternoon, may I pass through to speak with the Prince?” The guards have their spears up, crossed and blocking the door with an “x.” 

The third looks him up and down. “You’re the guy who’ll transfer the curse right?”

“That’s right.”

“Sorry, but your privileges don’t extend to the Prince’s room. We can’t let you or anyone else in, strict orders directly from the King and Queen.” 

He glances behind the guard, the other two still haven’t lowered their spears. Yuta knows there’s no way he’s getting in there through this door. “Okay, I understand. I’ll speak with him in the morning then, sorry to bother you.”

The guard’s seem to sigh with relief at his words. “Thank you for understanding. Everyone besides us three and the King and Queen have to follow this rule. Have a good night, and may the Lee’s reign prevail.” There’s a phrase he hasn’t heard in a long time. 

“May the Lee’s reign prevail.” Yuta walks away, shuddering at his utterance of that phrase. It’s only used within the castle really, no villagers want the Lee’s reign to remain. His parents taught him it when he was young, in case they ever took him to the castle or he got a job here in the future.

When he arrives back into his room, Yuta doesn’t have any sense of defeat; instead, he immediately starts to reshape his plan. The only private place to talk with Mark is his room. Everywhere else during the day is crawling with guards, and doors are required to stay open throughout the day unless changing. A strange rule, but apparently the King and Queen are very strict about it so Yuta doesn’t want to trigger their wrath. 

He slips out into the hallway, half a plan in his brain. It’s nowhere near a fully developed scheme, but what he has so far will have to do. 

The outside at night is quite cold, the brisk air nipping at his areas of exposed skin. Its contrast to the sunny and warm day will always confuse him, no matter how long he’s lived here for. Yuta barely remembers the Kingdom he was born in, but from what his parents told him of it, the days and nights there are consistent in temperature. They only switch with the change of seasons. That makes a lot more sense to him, more than this wacky place ever will. 

Yuta keeps the image of the castle’s interior in his mind as he navigates where Mark’s room is. This definitely isn’t a good idea, but at this point Yuta questions if anything he does has much logic to it. At least all his recent actions are driven by the same goal. 

With the moon above, Yuta stares up into the area where he assumes the Prince’s room is. He hopes with his entire body that the window he’s eyeing leads where he wants it to go. Luckily, with the exterior of the castle made of marble and stone and other minerals, a few blocks protrude outwards, allowing one to scale the building if they chose so: Yuta chooses so. A large vine also climbs upward, but it’s too far away from his target window to use for going up. He rolls back his sleeves and starts up the wall, testing the makeshift footholds for stability. 

Yuta keeps his body pressed against the wall, not daring to look down while he reaches up to his next step. The Prince’s room is only on the second floor, so it isn’t too far to climb but there’s still a risk of injury if he falls. The moonlight shines against the castle, illuminating the path for him. He strains all his muscles, reaching for a last edge to grip, but it’s just out of his reach. Yuta’s breathing quickly from the exertion of his energy, but he needs this last boost to get up there. Stretching as much as he can, his hand barely grasps onto the ledge while his right foot slips, leaving him dangling. The adrenaline pulses through his entire body, but Yuta brings his other hand up and pulls himself onto the ledge. There’s enough space to fit his knees, the rest of his legs still hanging over the edge. With his heart stilled now, Yuta carefully opens the wooden shutters, making room for one side to open, then he expects to tumble through the opening. He doesn’t.

Something else blocks the window’s opening, a tall wooden dresser.  _ Great. _ Without thinking, Yuta knocks upon it’s back four times, like it’s a door. He immediately regrets it when a small shriek comes from the room. At least he knows it’s definitely Mark in there. 

“Prince Mark,” he half-whispers half-yells, “don’t worry, it’s just me, Yuta. Can you move this dresser so I can get through?” A breeze pushes agains Yuta’s back and he stables himself on the tiny ledge by pushing his hands agains the frame. 

“What the-”

“Questions later, I’m about to fall.” 

“Uh, okay, okay, give me a second.” Behind the dresser, Yuta can hear some scuffling, then a scratch against the floor as the wooden blockade begins to slowly move. A view of Mark emerges as it’s pushed to the right, allowing Yuta to enter once the Prince moves. He tumbles into the room, crashing to the floor. “What the…” Yuta springs up and dusts himself off, pretending he didn’t just fall to the floor of the Prince’s room. 

“Thank you-” As he’s about to thank the Prince, Yuta finds himself slammed up against the dresser’s doors, two hands clutch at his shirt which keep him pinned against the furniture. 

In this strange predicament, Yuta finds himself getting a bit flustered while the Prince looks up at him with two glittering eyes. 

“M-mark, what-what are you-”

“Prince Mark!” A voice calls from behind the door. “Is everything okay in there?” Mark glances back at the door then gives Yuta a panicked look. 

“Sorry about this,” Mark says to him while the doors are opened behind him and he’s pushed back into the dresser. The doors are shut and Yuta hears two guards enter. 

He hears muffled voices begin to speak, starting with Mark, “Everything’s okay-”

“What was that noise Prince Mark? It sounded like you were slammed against something?”

“Don’t worry, it was just my shadow bothering me again. I’m fine, thank you for your concern.”

“Alright, please be careful my Prince and let us know if anything goes wrong.” 

“I will.” The sound of another door being used makes it through the wooden wall and to Yuta’s ears. Sure enough, the entryways to the dresser swing open and Mark reaches out a hand, helping Yuta out of it. Mark steps back while Yuta fully emerges. 

“Okay that wasn’t how I was expecting tonight to go but-”

“Shh,” Mark flails his arms a bit, and Yuta notices the Prince looks a bit flustered now. “We have to be quiet so they don’t suspect anything,” he whispers, “they already heard the racket you made coming in so now they’ll be listening more intensely.”

Yuta nods. “Sorry, I’ll be quieter.” Sighing, Mark flops onto his bed and sits upon the edge, hands folded in his lap. “So…” Yuta continues in a whisper, “what was that?” 

“That,” Mark glances back to his door, then looks back to Yuta, “is hard to explain.”

“Do you think you could try to explain it to me?” 

“I…”

Yuta shakes his head. “Don’t worry, you don’t have-”

“No,” the Prince is the one shaking his head now, eyes closed and shoulders slumped, “I think at this point, you deserve to know.” Mark pats the spot on his bed next to him. Yuta sits gently, not too close or far from the Prince. Moonlight from the now exposed window streams onto the bed, covering the both of them with it’s blanket of blue light. Every dust follicle in the air can be seen, floating from here to there. Yuta stares at them; if he looks at it a certain way, the dust could easily be mistaken for specks of stars, fallen from the sky and now left to wander about the air. 

“Know what?” Yuta finally asks, breaking the brief silence between them. 

“About the curse.” 

He had a feeling that’s what it was about, and this is perfect: Yuta came here to ask about the curse anyways. “Oh?”

Mark shifts on the bed, turning to face him directly. Hesitantly turning, Yuta meets the Prince’s gaze and stares into his eyes; reflections of the star dust around them. 

“It’s… see, well, the curse isn’t easy to notice. Not at first at least. It took my parents four years to figure out that I really had it. I started tripping a lot, getting scratches and randomly screaming. It always felt… always feels like someone is watching me and,” Mark pauses. He hesitates to speak again, but Yuta lets him take all the time he needs. “I can show you why, look down.” Yuta follows where Mark is pointing downwards, directly at their two shadows perfectly cast against the moonlight. 

At first, everything looks normal, but as he continues to stare, something is off. Mark’s shadow is… shivering? It waves back and forth, contorting and twisting slowly. Then, a slight gap parts in the head area. The Prince’s shadow smiles up with a sickening outline at the two boys. 

Yuta stifles his gasp. 

“My shadow torments me,” Mark speaks into the silence. The shadow’s creeping smile instantly warps in an angry frown, two indented eyebrows parting into the shadow above its mouth. “That’s the curse. If it’s transferred, your own shadow will harass you constantly. Tripping, shoving, scratching, swatting, knocking things over, all of that.” Yuta steadily shifts his eyes from the shadow up to Mark’s face. Despite the light directly upon his profile, Yuta can see the darkness cast in his expression: the pain and sadness. 

_ I’ll free you from this. I promise. _

“What a relief, that doesn’t sound too bad.” Yuta gives him his biggest and healing smile, Mark just stares at him like he’s crazy.

“I mean, no, it’s not the worst. I’ve heard of some pretty terrible curses out there but I don’t know how you can be so optimistic about this, it does get… tiring some days.”

Yuta becomes serious again. “Thank you, for telling me.”

The Prince nods. “I feel better with you knowing so you can prepare if you are getting it transferred. My parents, or, the King and Queen wouldn’t let me say anything to you. I don’t know why, I guess they didn’t want me to scare you away.”

Yuta lets out a giggle. “I don’t think you could even scare a single bird away, so there’s no way I’d be freaked out over this.”

“Wh-what?” Mark becomes a bit flustered and looks away, eyes darting around the room. 

“Anyways,” Yuta continues, proud of himself, “I actually came here to ask you about the curse, and with the ways things ended up, I know what I came to learn. Thank you, Prince Mark.” He leans forward, ready to rise from the bed and climb out the window, but a hand on his forearm keeps him down. 

“Wait uh, I actually wanted to ask you something too. I mean, I wasn’t going to sneak into your room or anything like that to ask it but,” Mark clears his throat, “why did you choose to take the curse? I mean, I really don’t think the one week here is enough incentive for any citizen to take the offer. I actually didn’t think anyone would come…”

“Well-”

“Oh, sorry, I still have two more questions before you answer.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, I don’t know but… and please don’t take this the wrong way… you seem a little, kind of, persistent to be around me?”

“Oh my god.” Yuta covers his burning face. Challenge to not act like a stalker: failed. “I’m so sorry, I promise I’m not a creep.”

“Then are you in love with me or something? Like a super super fan or stalker or-”

“No, no, no, I really promise I’m not any of those things.” Yuta rubs the back of his neck and tries to laugh a little. “I was trying to um, befriend you, but I don’t really know how to do that with anyone so I might have come off a little strongly.”

“You climbed into my bedroom through the window.”

Yuta blinks. “Yes. I did do that.” Mark raises an eyebrow at him. “But that was because I needed to know the curse and I thought you’d tell me since no one else would speak to me, and like I explained earlier, the guards wouldn’t let me in but I thought it was better to speak privately so at night was the only option so that’s why I came here.”

“I guess it makes sense…” The Prince looks unsure. Yuta mentally beats himself up. 

“And um, to be honest Mar- Prince Mark.” Mark snaps his head to listen carefully. His round eyes are so innocent, just as innocent as they were back then. It’s good to know he hasn’t changed while Yuta was forced to. “I want to protect you.”

The boy across from his opens his mouth, but doesn’t say anything. 

“Can I trust you with the reason why?”

“...Yes?” Mark cocks his head to the side. 

Yuta laughs a little.  _ Cute. _ “I’m only asking because some of this stuff is embarrassing.”

“I’ll listen.”

The Prince seems a little too eager to learn his secret but Yuta just finds it a bit endearing of him. Mark probably enjoys gossip, and that makes Yuta laugh inside. 

“My parents were guards in the castle and-”

“I thought you said you were an orphan?”

“I am, but I had parents at one point,” Yuta explains. 

Mark lowers his head and shyly speaks, “Oh, right. I just thought like, your parents died around when you were born and then you got thrown into an orphanage and lived a miserable life until you got a job at a flower shop and were able to pay for a place of your own.”

“Mark…” Yuta doesn’t know whether he should laugh or just be confused about Mark’s answer. Clearly, he’s read too many stories about poor orphans. He decides to be confused and giggle at the same time. “I don’t even know where you got that from but that’s not, I’m sorry but that’s not even close.”

“Sorry, I haven’t… met any orphans before.”

“It’s okay,” Yuta smiles at him, “but now you’ve met me, so you can check that off your list.”

Mark questions him with his face, but then develops a grin. “I’ll make sure to cross it off, now continue your story please.”

“Of course, of course. As I was saying, my parents were both guards in the castle, so I grew up watching them protect the royal family and after they passed I swore to do the same, to honor their memory.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” He nervously lets out a little chuckle. “So that’s why I’m here. I’m sorry if I’m too pushy about hanging out with you, I just thought… well, I don’t know, but now you know.” 

“That’s really cool though.”

“In what way?” Yuta shrugs. 

Mark shuffles a bit closer to him and responds, “Because even after your parents have… gone, you’re still keeping them alive, in a way.”

Yuta takes in Mark’s words and slowly, a small sadness inside him melts away and a slight, sweet smile grows on his face. “Yeah. I guess it’s like that.” He begins to lose himself in a train of thoughts, all about his parents and their legacy. He’s always worked to do what they asked, to protect the Prince. Along the way, a bit of his happy moments with them were lost, but he can never forget how proud he has always been of their determination to keep safe the Kingdom’s future leader. 

Within the silence, Mark’s eyes linger back to his shadow, cast upon the floor in a deep black hue against the light blue moonlight. He feels, in a sense, safe right now with Yuta next to him. A new and strange feeling for him. 

“Um, Yuta?”

“Yes, Prince,” he answers. 

The Prince hesitates to speak, but he finally does. “To be honest, today was… different. A good kind of different. Remember how you said you came to me because there isn’t anyone else in the castle to hang out with?” 

Yuta nods. 

“Well there aren’t. And I’ve been locked up in here since I was a kid. I’m not allowed to leave the grounds unless my parents are escorting me somewhere, and I don’t have any siblings and the servants won’t talk casually to me so… basically I don’t have any friends.”

“Oh.” Yuta frowns at him. He never thought the crown prince would admit something like that on the first, technically second day, of meeting someone. It makes sense, unfortunately, since it’s well known throughout the Kingdom that Mark is not allowed to exit the castle. That’s why no one has ever known what the curse was besides the King and Queen, a few guards, and some other servants. 

“Yeah, so,” Mark sighs, “do you want to be like… friends for the week? Since neither of us have anyone to hang out with and I trust you now.”

Yuta raises an eyebrow. “Did you not trust me before?”

“You climbed into my bedroom through the window.”

“Right, I uh, almost forgot about that.” He rubs the back of his neck and nervously laughs a bit. “But my answer is yes.”

Mark holds out his hand. “Friends.”

As a soft expression overtakes his face, Yuta takes the hand and holds it with his own. “Friends.” They shake on it, then release one another. 

“Okay, now please leave my room and let me sleep.”

“Will do.” He quietly paces back over to where the window is and peers out, searching for any possible threats. The lot is empty outside where he’ll be climbing. Now grown a bit closer, Yuta sees he can take the vines down most of the way instead of risking it on loose footholds. As he lowers himself out the window, Mark looks down at him. “Good night Pri-“

“You can just call me Mark, I mean, friends usually just use the other’s name right?”

Yuta beams up at him. “Yeah, good night Mark.”

“Good night Yuta.” 

Yuta makes his descent down the wall, grinning like a fool all the way back to his room inside the castle. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  Day 3

Breakfast the next day is quite interesting. Yuta awakens with the sun on his face and a servant holding out a piece of paper next to him. The king and queen want to invite him to breakfast with them.

So that’s where he is now. Perched perfectly in a seat next to a sleepy Mark and only a few seats away from the King and Queen. Their plates are filled bountifully, something he still hasn’t gotten used to, and the Queen smiles over at Yuta. 

“Today is day three of your stay, is everything comfortable so far?” she asks. 

“Yes, it’s all very pleasant, thank you,” Yuta responds politely. 

The Queen clicks her tongue. “That’s good. I heard you ‘hung out’ with our Markie here yesterday, did you enjoy yourselves?” Yuta almost chokes on the bite of scrambled eggs he currently holds in his mouth. ‘Markie’ is a cute nickname, but judging from the flustered look on Mark’s face, it’s not one meant to be shared outside the family.

“Mother-“

“Yes, Prince Mark and I enjoyed our day yesterday. We ran into each other and I asked if he wanted to do something together, since I was in the process of searching for something to do.”

“Hm,” the Queen pops a grape into her mouth and swallows, “lovely. But remember you can ask for anything here in the castle, do any activity within the castle. We even have horseback riding if you wish.” Her words seem kind enough, but by her tone, Yuta can tell she’s trying to say ‘do anything else but don’t bother my son.’ 

Mark puts down his fork. “Mom, it’s okay, I… liked hanging out with Yuta. He wasn’t a bother at all. Plus I thought I should get to know the man who’s going to take on my curse.” The Queen simply smiles at her son but doesn’t say anything else. Her husband, the King, side eyes Yuta but focuses back on devouring his plate like a pig. 

Throughout the meal, Yuta frequently glances over at Mark. He’s wearing round specks that enhance his cuteness, and the morning grogginess only does the same. Like the first night, Mark’s hair is a bit messy. Strands stick up in strange directions and have absolutely no coordination atop his head. He looks so fluffy right now, and his hair especially looks soft. Yuta makes sure the King and Queen are well distracted and reaches over quickly. He ruffles Mark’s hair gently and leans into his ear. “You’re especially cute this morning, Markie.”

The prince’s face turns a bright pink, his ear becoming extremely red. As Yuta leans away and back into his chair, smirking, Mark looks at him with disbelief. 

“Mark, I think you need to go start your studies for the day,” the Queen says. For a second, Yuta’s scared he got caught messing with the Prince but her face looks oblivious and she doesn’t sound upset. 

Next to Yuta, Mark stands and looks at his mother. “May I stay for a few minutes?”

“No, go to your studies, now.”

He doesn’t test her with that tone, and Yuta wouldn’t either. Mark looks down at him and gives a small, sad smile then exits the room. A servant rushes over to clear his plate while Yuta stares at the now empty seat next to him. 

“Servants, out,” the Queen snaps. Everyone in the room shuffles out, and Yuta wonders if he should do the same, and then wishes he  _ could _ do the same. The King and Queen rise from their seats and slowly walk to each of the large windows at either end of the room. They shut each door on the way. “Now Yuta,” the Queen says as she grabs the large curtain and begins to veil the window, “we have something small to talk about with you.” Yuta looks behind him, where the King has pulled the curtains on the other window and blocked all light that was coming in. With both sources covered now, the only light within the room comes from a fireplace and some dimmed lanterns around the walls. His hair raises, and Yuta prepares himself for anything.

Slowly, the King and Queen walk back to the table, but they don’t sit. Both stare down at him, a sharp gaze keeping him still. Yuta dares not to make a sound, afraid the next second every particle around him will be sliced, and his head along with it. The crackling fireplace provides no more warmth, a coldness engulfing him within his seat. 

“We need to make one thing clear,” the King begins. 

His wife speaks next, monotone, harsh, and clear. “After the curse is transferred, you will leave. And never return to anywhere within our Kingdom of Gwadong.”

Yuta doesn’t process. His body is only focusing on calming its shaking self after fearing the worst. 

But as he realizes what has been spoken: this could be the worst. 

“I’m sorry I-I don’t think I understand.”

“No worries,” the Queen gives a sickening grin, “we’ll explain it  _ thoroughly _ for you.”

“Once the curse has transferred, in four days, you will leave immediately after. And we don’t mean back to your shabby abode in the village, you are to leave Gwadong. And never come back here, ever. Don’t even come within one hundred feet of the border. If any word shall ever come that you’re back, consequences will follow.”

“But... why?” Yuta’s too shocked to think about what comes from his mouth. The King glares at him. 

“Because, our son has spent his whole life suffering from that forsaken curse, and us as well. It would only hurt him more to be around you, or know you are near within the Kingdom. We’ve protected Mark since he was a child, and this is how we will continue to do so.”

_ Protecting? _ Yuta has quite a different idea on how to protect the Prince…

“I… understand. I don’t want to cause him any more suffering. After it’s transferred, may I say goodbye to some friends in town first and then leave?” 

“I suppose that’s fine. But don’t dawdle. You’ll have one hour. The King and I will be watching.”

“Yes, your Majesties.” He tries to conform. “May I ask one more question?”

“What is it?” The Queen says in an annoyed tone.

“Am I still not able to know what the curse is?” He asks this simply for show; they’re both smart, and he doesn’t want to raise any more suspicion about himself. 

The Queen raises a single brow. “So the boy hasn’t told you?” Yuta shakes his head. “Then good, he shouldn’t have. And no, not until the day it’s transferred. Do not ask again.”

“Understood, your Majesty. I’ll put my curiosity to the side and wait patiently and relish in the accommodations provided until then.” 

“Good,” the King claps, “I’m glad we don’t have any issues. Keep it that way. Please go enjoy your stay here. And don’t tell  _ anyone _ about our little talk here today.”

Yuta nods and slowly rises from his chair, placing down his napkin gently upon the table. “Of course. You can trust me. Thank you for the food.” They don’t say anything as he makes for the door. A tingling shocks through his hand as he reaches for the doorknob. The tiny voice within his head is poking around up there, trying to get him to stop following everything they command. 

He opens the door and leaves the darkness behind him, letting the sun soak on his face like they want. Yuta forms a large smile for show and turns back to the room before shutting the door. The King and Queen were still watching him exit, of course, so they got the full show.

There are plenty of things he could do now: find Mark, find Shina, go to the gardens again, go to the library, go to his room. He does none of that. Head full of thoughts, Yuta simply begins to stroll the hallways, the less busy ones that are barren of decorations and people. The rugs in these areas aren’t as upkept; stains dot the edges and loose threads stick up, waiting for someone to trip over them. Yuta fixates on these details though, because if he doesn’t reign himself in right now he might make an impulse decision or say something he can’t yet. 

They’ve asked him to leave. He understands that much, but he doesn’t know how that is going to happen. Shina will be furious if,  _ when _ , she finds out, and Ayaka will be upset too. Yuta can’t lose either of them, and he doesn’t want to.

Shina was right, this was all a mistake. Why couldn’t he have listened for once and kept his head cool? Why couldn’t he have taken her advice and tried the guard training classes again? If only he’d done things differently, he wouldn’t have to leave his family, and the person he’s sworn to protect since he lost his parents. 

_ What would Mom and Dad think now… _

Yuta knows he’s failed them. He thought that in the future he’d have the curse and be able to watch over the Prince still, take care of Ayaka and Shina as well. Do everything he’s planned out, but now there’s no way. The King and Queen seem like they will not stop until he’s gone, whatever their reasons may be. 

Maybe it will still be guarding Mark though. Yuta’s not sure, but if that’s how Mark’s parent’s protect him, then he’s still doing his goal right? He’ll never truly know. What would Yuta know about how a parent protects their child?

A small drop of water falls to the floor. It joins the other stains and makes a light circular spot on the red fabric. Yuta wonders where it could have come from, looking up to see if there’s a leak. There’s not. He touches his cheek, feeling something cold upon it and realizes that the drop came from him: he’s crying. 

“Shoot when-” 

“Yuta! There you are.” Yuta flicks the remaining tears away and dries beneath his eyes, hoping his face hasn’t puffed up at all. He puts on a smile and turns towards the voice, which he knows is Mark. 

“Hey Mark, what’s up?”

Mark scurries up to him. “Oh uh,” he starts to rub his arm, “I was looking for you.”

Yuta’s fake smile is replaced with a real one. “Really? Why?”

The younger is beginning to turn a bit pink again. “We made a promise to be friends right? So… are we going to hang out again today or…”

Yuta chuckles, his insides fluttering around at the cuteness of the Prince. “Of course, that’s what friends do, right?”

The smile that appears on Mark’s face rivals the sun's brilliant rays. “Ye-yeah. I think.” 

Yuta decides that for this week, even if everything he’s lived for falls apart after, he’s just going to spend this time making the most of it with Mark. He’ll protect him for this one week, then figure out what to do next. 

“So, are you going to study all day again or should we go back to the gardens?” Yuta jokes. 

“Actually,” Mark states, “I have something in mind.”

“Oh?”

Mark’s brief bubble of confidence bursts as Yuta raises an eyebrow to him. “Well, I want to show you something— someplace.”

Yuta swears Mark couldn’t be any more endearing. 

“Come on,” Mark gently picks up his arm, “let’s go.” Without time to process, Yuta lets himself be dragged through the halls by Mark. 

He has a feeling he won’t get any response but he asks anyways, “Can I know where we’re going?”

The Prince looks back at him, eyes gleaming like they always do, and a slight smile spread across from cheek to cheek. “You’ll see,” he chuckles. 

They wind up stair after stair, Yuta becoming a bit concerned as he peers out the open windows and finds the ground very far away. Mark doesn’t stop at all; he scurries through hallways and nods to passing servants, and the whole time he doesn’t let go of Yuta’s arm. For a little while, when they’re navigating the halls, Yuta’s focus stays on his wrist where Mark’s hand gently grasps it. His fingers curve perfectly around it, barely touching on the other side, and for a split second, Yuta wonders if their fingers would perfectly lock together as well. 

Quickly, Yuta takes that thought, crumples it up, tosses it into a trashbin, and sets the bin on fire.  _ Where did that even come from? _ These aren’t thoughts one should be having about  _ the  _ Prince. Or even a newly made friend. 

Mark skids to a stop, two grand white and gold glazed doors in front of him. His grip on Yuta is lost and the older steps forward, tentatively placing a hand upon the entryway’s detailed etched design. 

“What…” A small memory pokes at the back of his head, but Yuta swats it away like a fly during the warm season. 

Catching his breath, Mark grins and holds his hands out, presenting the doors. “Yuta, welcome to the royal ballroom.” 

Yuta looks at him and promptly tilts his head. “Is this it then?”

“Well… no, not quite it’s… lets just go inside.” Mark places two hands against the doors and pushes against them. They don’t budge, not a lot at least. Yuta covers a laugh and in one swift step, he’s beside Mark opening the doors with him. Opening wide, a darkness welcomes them. “Cool right?” His voice echoes and Mark steps in, disappearing into the abyss. 

“Uh Mark? Are there lights to this place?” He’s not fond of the dark, plus the vastness of the ballroom feels a bit… uneasy, prone to making one feel susceptible within it. 

“We don’t need lights,” Mark’s voice comes at him from different directions, “they’ll present more of a… difficulty, to some of us.” 

Yuta takes one step forward, arms wrapping around his body. His eyes still haven’t adjusted. “Wouldn’t they help?” He assumes shadows become stronger in the dark, surrounded by other shadows. “Mark?” 

No answer. His senses begin to tingle, like little needles poking around his nerves. “Mark? Where are you? Are you okay? Mark!” 

A hand grabs his wrist and suddenly Mark is next to him. “Sorry, I’m right here.” Yuta releases a breath, calming his shaking heart. “Are you afraid of the dark or something?” Mark jokes, bumping his shoulder with his own. 

“Yeah, I guess you could say that…'' Half true. He’s more afraid of losing Mark in the dark. “But don’t tell anyone ok?” 

“Hm, what do I get from this?”

Yuta blinks. “I-”

“Just joking,” Mark laughs, his little chuckle reverberating throughout the room. “Friend’s keep secrets right? I mean, you know mine and now I know yours so… we’re real friends now.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.”

“Come on then, this isn’t what I wanted to show you.” Once again Yuta is pulled away by Mark. “Watch out for the steps.” Swinging his arm out to reach for a railing, Yuta accidentally whacks his hand against said banister and lets out a little yelp. “And for the railing too I guess.”

“Thanks, but I really can’t see anything.”

Mark helps stable him as he tips forward, tripping on a step. “Sorry, don’t worry, we’ll be in a lit area soon, I promise.”

“I trust you.” The words leave Yuta’s mouth almost immediately before he realizes exactly  _ how  _ he said those words. Sincere and serious. No response from the Prince, just a throat cleared briefly.  _ Yuta you can’t just say those things to people you officially met two days,  _ he reprimands himself. The two stay quiet for the rest of the way. 

Just as Yuta’s eyes have adjusted to the darkness, he sees a sliver of light come into view, then a stream of sunlight illuminating dust particles drifting through the air. Two doors, glass, stand on a wall hidden behind several large marble columns. He’s not quite sure how they got back here and Mark so easily slipped through he never got the chance to see. 

Mark drops his wrist and paces forward, turning back around to face Yuta. He titls his head, the warm sun radiating against his skin. The glow around him cannot rival the bright smile on his face, little individual brown hairs falling against Mark’s forehead as it’s cocked. 

“Here.” Mark holds out his hand and slowly motions for Yuta, his right foot steps first, then his left, and they take turns until bringing Yuta in front of Mark: both now standing under the streams of light. The Prince turns to the doors, opening them to lead outside. Yuta follows, eyes readjusting to the light. The sun greets him and when his vision clears, the sight both amazes and startles him. 

They stand upon a balcony, Yuta tenaciously inches towards the edge, not wanting to peer over the edge. 

“It’s okay, just don’t lean over and you won’t fall. You’ll want to see this,” Mark reassures him. When Yuta reaches the rail, he takes a deep breath in. 

“Whoa.”

“I know.” Mark grins.

“This is…”

“The entire Kingdom,” Mark states, “or, at least til as far as you can see.”

Below them, the city of Gwadong sits still, a portrait laid within the scenery of expanding valleys and forests in each direction. They go on for miles, seemingly never-ending. Streets and city markets Yuta spent his childhood memorizing how to navigate and find his way through all look so tiny from up here. Back then each time he ventured out, the world looked so big: too big. Yuta recognizes Ten’s house, Johnny’s house, the main market, the flower shop… the more he focuses, the more movement he can see. It’s no longer a still scene, but a twisting stream, waves of people parting at large rocks —the houses— and their paths changing and merging with one another in crossing roads. 

From up here, he almost forgets how it feels to be down there, lost within the sea of bustling humans, hoping he can make the swim to the next shore and keep his head up the entire time. There were definitely times he’d gone under; whenever he got caught stealing or tried to fight a palace guard… Shina would always give him a stern talking to afterwards. He missed those reprimands as he got older. How was he supposed to know what was good and what was bad? It’s easier when you’re younger and you don’t have to decide those things for yourself. 

“Do you like it?” Mark asks timidly, eyes quietly gazing over at his friend. 

As Yuta scans over the scene, tracing each detail and outline of the roofs, a smile takes over. “Yeah. It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah. I love this place, I actually come here a lot. No guards, no people, no parents…” His voice trails out. 

Yuta rests his elbows against the rail, leaning against it just a bit. “So you come here to get away? I can imagine why, it seems pretty restricting within the castle.” 

“Nah, not really,” Mark copies his position, “I mean, it can be. So I guess this place is a little bit of an escape. My parents don’t like me being out in the sun much, because my shadow is stronger under light, and more people could notice then.” 

“I see.” Yuta props up on one elbow, now sideways and looking at the Prince. His eyebrows are pressed in slightly, the sparkle in his eyes gone. The way his shoulders slump and jaw is clenched pokes Yuta’s instincts. He slides right next to him, their shoulders brushing against one another. Yuta points down to a small house, surrounded by a thousand other small houses. “Can you see that one? The tiny one two streets behind the main market on the South West side?”

“Uh…”

Yuta points closer and nods to his house. “It has a red roof. That’s my house.” Mark squints his eyes, and Yuta’s sure he’s spotted it when the boy’s eyes widen and his nose scrunches up. Chuckling a bit, Yuta nudges him. “I know it’s no palace but you don’t have to act  _ that _ disgusted.” 

“Oh!” Mark realizes himself. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean- I just-”

“No worries, no worries.”

“No really, sorry. I guess I just didn’t expect your house to be such a small, rundown, crappy, dirty…” Mark turns his head to him and nervously smiles. “Sorry.”

Shaking his head, Yuta responds, “It’s ok. I know what it is, especially compared to your castle here. It’s actually quite clean and organized though because Sh- shit laying around annoys me.” It’s Yuta’s turn to nervously fake laugh. “But no matter what, it’s still a home.” 

Mark sighs. “I wish I could see it someday, or literally any of the city.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I can  _ see _ the city from up here,” Mark swats at something next to him but Yuta can’t see what it is, “but I’ve never been outside the castle. I’m not allowed.”

“Right, I forgot about that.” Yuta frowns. He’s explored every inch of Gwadong city, and maybe Mark has explored every inch of the castle, but Mark hasn’t gotten to experience that. “Well, after I take the curse, you’ll be able to go see it then.” He expects Mark to be happy, but the Prince only lowers his head. 

“I guess.”

Yuta hesitates to ask if everything’s alright, but before he can come to a decision Mark pushes off from the banister and heads for the doors. 

“Come on, we should probably get back before someone comes looking for us.” 

“Wait-” Yuta sees it. A snaking shadow hand sweep past the balcony floor at Mark’s feet. Then, the Prince falls back. Yuta lunges forward. 

Landing into his arms, the two boys find themselves in a very familiar situation. This time though, something in Yuta heats up. Maybe it’s just the sun’s warmth. 

“You should really stop falling for me, Prince. What would happen if word got out about a Prince and a Peasant?” He shoots his usual response, and Mark becomes as flustered as ever. Yuta remembers once again that this is the  _ Prince _ and he should not be casually flirting with him like he does with other people. The boy flails out of his arms, steadying himself. He turns from Yuta and straightens his shirt. 

“It would be quite the story wouldn’t it?” Mark swiftly pivots and winks to him, ears bright red. 

Yuta freezes. That is surely not just the sun heating up his cheeks right now. 

“Ugh,” Mark quickly turns away again, “let’s definitely go inside now, my shadow’s acting up.” 

“O-ok.” He stiffly follows after Mark inside, standing a bit further back from him as he’s led into the dark. 

Upon emerging from the ballroom and back into the halls, Yuta is able to shake the events from his mind, back into mission mode. He sticks close to the Prince, giddy at being able to keep him close. Mark doesn’t move away and Yuta makes a bold move to sling his arm around him. As they manuever the halls, they talk about lots of things. Interests, books they’ve read, music, favorite plays and scripts, Mark asks about Yuta’s past friendships too. Yuta asks the same, teasingly, but unexpectedly gets a confession from Mark that his best friend growing up was actually an extremely poisonous snake that nested under his bed. 

“How did you not  _ die? _ ” Yuta shrieks. Black mambas are  _ not  _ to be trifled with. Mark shrugs. 

“I think my shadow kept him away? He just chilled under there and I would occasionally throw him some crumbs or little trinkets. Two guards found him one day and took him away.”

“Aw,” Yuta ruffles Mark’s hair playfully, “I bet that was pretty sad to baby Mark.”

Mark pushes him off and rolls his eyes. “Believe it or not, that  _ was  _ my only friend and four year old me didn’t know any better.”  _ Four years old… Mom and Dad would have still been… _

“Do you know-” 

“Your highness,” a socialite interrupts their conversation, bowing to the Prince. Yuta straightens up and steps away from the two, not wanting to intrude. “The King and Queen have requested you attend your lecture now. Please follow me there.” 

“Ah, yes, I forgot about that, thank you for coming to get me, just give me a second please.”

“Of course, your highness.” 

Mark comes to Yuta, frowning. “Sorry, I have to go to this meeting. Prince stuff. We can hang out later, or tomorrow, okay?”

“Of course, your highness,” Yuta teasingly says. He adds a wink along with it, and Mark averts his eyes. 

The Prince briefly looks back to whisper, “Don’t tell anyone about that spot… I trust you.” Following the messenger, Mark begins to disappear down the long hall, leaving Yuta alone, with only one thought on his mind:  _ he trusts me.  _

🃁🃁🃁🃁

_ Silence. Too much silence. The halls of the castle are stripped of their decorative rugs and massive portraits. The windows are boarded up by loosely fastened wooden planks, blocking out almost all light.  _

_ “Yuta!” A voice echoes in the halls. It’s hard to hear. It’s always hard to hear anything in a dream.  _

_ “Yuta.” Someone says in front of him. A woman stands a few feet away, smiling. There’s a small boy behind her, and a man appears by her side. Yuta can’t recognize either of them as anyone he knows, they’re just made up faces his brain generates during sleep cycles. The little boy hugs her leg tightly, peeking out from behind it. Yuta smiles and bends down, waving to the kid.  _

_ “Yuta!” His voice is called out again. A sense of danger festers in the back of his mind, un-easing his soul. It’s just a dream, so Yuta pushes it away, ignoring the voice. _

_ “Is someone calling to you?” The man asks. Yuta shakes his head, unable to speak. He holds a fondness for these strangers, though he’s never met them before.  _

_ “Yuta! Yuta!”  _

_ Ugh. Whoever it is, Yuta doesn’t care to respond. He takes a step, wanting to greet the family, but a red curtain appears, concealing each wall with it’s deep color. Yuta knows this curtain and reels back at the sight. The family looks unbothered but as Yuta stumbles back, attempting to close his eyes at the sight of the red cloth, he spots something else appear. A thin black snake makes it way across the floor.  _ Black mamba. 

_ He sees it slither to the family, adrenaline rising inside him. Yuta pushes up off the ground, but as he runs, he feels heavy, weak. His feet can’t move fast enough, constrained by the logic of his dreaming mind. Yuta screams out to warn them, but the snake jumps, biting the woman first, then the man. His entire chest burns, feet and hands fuzzy with a frustrating static feeling.  _

_ Yuta makes it to the boy just in time, taking him into his arms and protecting him with his entire body. In the corner of his eye, a black streak flashes and Yuta instinctively turns the boy away from it. A pain shoots into his ankle as the Black Mamba’s poisoned fangs sink into his skin. As Yuta screams out in pain, everything becomes blurry.  _

His eyes fling open, body heaving rapidly for air. The sheets beneath Yuta feel damp, deeply sinking in with his body’s position and weight. A lingering feeling of pain sparks like tiny fireworks in his ankle. It’s not physically there, but it’s enough pain to keep Yuta from moving for a few seconds, grimacing at the throbbing. 

As soon as he’s able to move, Yuta pulls his knees to his chest and examines his ankle. Nothing. 

The moonlight from a newly waning full moon hits his bed, shining upon his curled up body. Yuta looks out the window, rubbing his eyes and hoping that the sun has suddenly become blue and that it’s not actually night right now. He groans, rationalizing with himself that that would never happen. 

_ Stupid nightmares _ . What a waste of a perfectly good night. Yuta can’t go back to sleep after that, not on his own. It’s not rare for him to have nightmares with physical pain in them, but when they happen, usually he’s at home. It may seem a bit puerile, but Shina would always let him or Ayaka come to her bed after a nightmare. She’d stroke their hair until they fell asleep. 

As he got older, it just became a habit to go there, knowing he would be alone. Shina didn’t stroke his head anymore because, well, she needed sleep too but it was still the same comfort it had been since his childhood. 

Yuta buries his face in the covers.  _ Sorry Shina… _ Even though it was he and Shina who raised Ayaka, it was Shina who raised him. His stomach still drops in guilt everytime she’s out in the courtyard, training fellow guards. 

Unable to think of anything else to do, Yuta tosses and turns for a bit. It doesn’t do anything. Every time he closes his eyes, the red curtains and slumped bodies of the two people flash in his mind, the spot on his ankle acting up a bit. Eventually, there’s no use even trying to go back to sleep. 

He sits up and takes a deep breath, staring across his vast room. Yuta pulls off the covers and tip-toes to his seating area. It is no more sleep-inducing there than it is in his bed. Comfy, sure, but once a nightmare is on his mind, it’s stuck like glue. 

Sighing, Yuta tries for a walk, pacing around his room a bit before going to his door. But when he attempts to turn the knob, it clicks while turning a meager five degrees. He’s locked in. 

Of course, that’s never stopped him before. Yuta doesn’t think twice as he slips out his window and climbs precariously to the ground below. It’s a bit of a jump and he lands with a  _ thud _ ; Yuta winces, hoping no night guard heard. A few seconds later a patrol does pass by and Yuta ducks into the shadows, holding his breath until they’ve long passed. A night walk in the open would be too dangerous with all these guards. His only option is to go back to his room, alone. 

Or…

Yuta stretches, not sure if his mind is fully awake even though it’s clearly not asleep. He shakes his head, as if that’ll get rid of the thought forming currently. 

His brain wins. Plus, the little smile that somehow formed on his face while he was thinking lowered his defenses to his own mind.  _ Fine. _ Yuta complies with himself and scouts for the next passing guard. He swiftly sprints to the next shadowed area, then the next, avoiding any prying eyes along the way. When he reaches the destination, Yuta braces himself and begins to climb, following the same path he had used before. 

Upon reaching Mark’s window, he finds the dresser has not been pushed back, leaving the entrance open for him. Yuta hops down and slowly stands up. The melted wax at the candle mounted upon the wall still hasn’t fully dried: it isn’t too late into the night. 

Yuta tries to think of how to softly wake Mark up. He can’t just walk over to him; Mark would freak. The best way is to just slowly increase the sounds so his body wakes up naturally. 

“Mark,” Yuta whispers. He raps three times at the stone wall. Then thrice more with a little more power. “Mark, it’s me Yuta.” Knocking again, and when that doesn’t stir the Prince at all, he moves over a bit to the dresser. “Mark, wake up.” His taps against the wooden dresser sound a lot louder than expected and the boy’s head twitches. “Wakey, wakey Prince.” 

Mark seems to be gradually waking so Yuta steps back again to the window, letting the light reveal who he is to the other. When Mark sits up, eyes half open, and sees Yuta, he scrambles back in his bed. He looks around, clutching the sheets in his hands. “Yuta? What are you doing here?” He sleepily mumbles. “Am I dreaming?”

“No, it’s really me. Sorry to bother you so late.”

“Huisf ine...” Mark’s eyes close again, his not-quite-words trailing off.

“Mark?”

“Hm?” 

Yuta pulls at the edges of his nightshirt. “Um, this may sound weird but I had a nightmare. Can I stay in your room for the night?” 

Mark's eyes slowly reveal themselves once again. The Prince tilts his head, one side of his mouth tilting as well. “What?”

“Can I just stay in your room for the night? I can sleep on the floor or whatever.”

“Don’t sleep on the floor…”

“So I can sleep in here then?” Yuta happily asks, just for confirmation. 

“No? What? I never said that, Yuta, please, it’s like, the middle of the night, go back to bed.”

“But-”

Mark flops back onto his bed and flaps his hand through the air. “Sleep is important,” he says while yawning, “go sleep.” 

Yuta frowns. He knew this wouldn’t work. As he trudges to climb back out the window, a knock sounds upon the door. 

“Prince Mark? I thought I heard voices? Are you alright?” Mark shoots up at the voice and glances to Yuta with wide eyes. Yuta quickly hops out the window, but he can only hang upon the edge. If he jumps for the vines now then it’ll make a noise, and noise could mean the soldier checking out the window. He looks up, his hands are definitely visible to the door. 

Suddenly, Mark’s face pops out the opening and looks down at him. He holds a finger to his mouth and then sinks back in, resting his arms on the sill, covering Yuta’s exposed hands. 

“My Prince?” The voice clears and Yuta hears a door open into Mark’s room. He can’t focus his attention on much else, too intent on trying not to fall hundreds of feet to his death. 

“Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t hear you calling for me,” Mark fakes innocence, “I was just… lost looking at the moonlight.” He adds in a laugh, so blatantly forced Yuta has to stop himself from actually laughing. Yuta’s muscles strain to keep his hands from slipping off the edge, and each second it becomes increasingly harder as they become sweatier. 

“Your highness, it's not good to be under the moonlight. It’ll make your cast shadow stronger, why don’t I move the dresser in front of the window for you.”

“No- no thank you. It’ll be okay. I like the moon during this time and I never get to see it out there.”

“Okay… don’t stay under there for too long, your highness needs his rest. You have big days ahead of you.” The guard leaves the room and both boys exhale. Mark glares down at Yuta, he returns the gaze with a sheepish smile and a shrug. 

“Can I get back on the windowsill now?” Yuta begs, arms practically on fire. 

Mark crosses his arms and shakes his head. “No. Go to bed. Why did you even come here in the first place?” 

“I told you, I had a nightmare.” Yuta follows the Prince’s eyes as they wander down to his arms and their strained, flexing muscles. “Mark?” He asks after a few seconds of silence. 

“You’re really strong,” Mark softly mumbles, clearly not paying attention. Unable to hold on any longer, Yuta pulls himself up, closing the gap between the two. Two large brown eyes meet with him, centimeters away. 

Mark shuffles back, panicked; Yuta scoffs. “I’ll see you in the morning then, Prince Mark.”

“Did you come back up here just to say that?” 

“Maybe,” he chuckles, “good night.” Then, just as quickly as he came in, Yuta leaves, hopping down to the nearby vines and heading back to his room. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  Day 4

Yuta sleeps in the next morning, still feeling groggy from his lack of rest. It took several hours, but he was finally able to close his eyes and drift off without any more nightmares. Kun came in to wake him after it'd been three hours since breakfast was served and he still wasn’t up. 

“Okay sleeping beauty, time to go through your day,” Kun said as he ripped the covers off him, “I know how comfy these beds are. They’re like a sink hold of fluffy clouds, but you’ve only got three days left so go enjoy it to the fullest.”

Yuta groans, eyes still closed. He reaches out, swatting through the air to search for his covers. “Leave me alone Shina, I don’t want to go to work today.” A pillow smacks him in the face. 

“Wake up lover boy and remember where you are.” Shooting up, Yuta rubs his eyes and blushes seeing Kun standing next to his bed. He’ll never get used to waking up in the castle. 

“Oh. Good morning Kun…”

“So,” Kun throws another pillow at him, “who’s Shina? And why is she waking you if you lived alone?” He can see the warlock’s eyebrows raising and knows what he’s thinking. Yuta half laughs half gags. 

“Shina’s my sister, don’t be thinking any thoughts.”

“Sister?”

“Yeah, I—”  _ Shit.  _ No one here knows about his sisters. Besides his own sister of course. “Shoot, Kun, please don’t tell anyone. I don’t know what’ll happen after the curse is transferred, but I don’t want to endanger my sisters if I go off the walls or something.”

Kun puts down the pillow he was hiding behind his back. “Then, the King and Queen don’t know you have a sister… sisters?”

“Sisters. I trust you Kun. I just don’t want them to get hurt or blamed for anything.”

The warlock nods. “I understand. The secret is safe with me. But your breakfast is not safe from hungry servants while it sits out on the table, come on.”

Smiling to himself, Yuta quickly slips into some day clothes and follows Kun outside his room. “Thank you.”

Kun looks back with sincere eyes, and then the two of them head to the dining room. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

Yuta sweeps his pencil in coordinated strokes, filled with happiness at his surroundings of infinite art supplies. Across the table, Mark stares intensely down at his paper, focused on making tiny scribbles. 

He smiles. “Mark, what are you drawing?”

The Prince doesn’t hear him, too intent on his masterpiece.

“Mark~”

“Huh?” Mark snaps his head up, eyes wide. 

“What are you drawing, your Highness?”

Mark ignores Yuta’s teasing and proudly holds up his colorful sketch. Upon first glance, Yuta can’t quite tell what it is, but its mass is so condensed with bright colors he can’t help but smile. “It’s a joker!”

“I see, it’s quite a cute joker,” Yuta compliments. He sees it now and maybe it’s not the most accurate, but Mark sure has his own style infused with his natural cuteness. 

“What are you drawing?” 

He covers his drawing and leans over it. “It’s not good like yours. I’m not sure what it is, I kind of just drew how I wanted.”

“Come on, I showed you mine, show me yours! You’re the one who suggested we do art today anyways, I’m confident there’s a lot of talent hidden on that paper.”

Mark’s words comfort him and Yuta slowly pulls his hands away, revealing the black-ink splotted drawing with light blue ribbon strokes dancing around the page. 

“Whoa… how do you do that?”

Yuta leans back, letting his friend get a better look at the art. “I’m not sure. Each stroke just feels  _ right _ . So I make it. To me the final result doesn’t matter much, I more love doing art because of the feeling of creating something. It’s like getting my thoughts out without actually speaking.”

The Prince stares at the painting a bit longer before breaking silence. “Yuta, you’re really cool.”

“Thanks Mark,” Yuta lightly smiles. 

“No, I really mean it. And not just because you’re one of the only people I’ve properly met and gotten to hang out with. There’s something so refreshingly open about you,” Mark pauses, trying to find the right words, “You don’t seem afraid or ashamed about any part of you. I think that’s really admirable.”

Yuta’s focus stays on Mark, his breathing slowing. Time leaving their realm of existence to let him experience such a moment as this. Those words, those eyes, these lies. No one in the world deserves Mark: especially not Yuta. 

Time returns and Yuta realizes his mouth has opened slightly. He darts his eyes away, taking a deep breath to bring himself back to reality. “Thank you, Mark. I’ve learned in my life that hiding parts of myself just because others may disapprove isn’t the way to live.”

“But… what if that part could hurt others?” Mark shuffles on his feet, picking up a pen and brushing its feather against his fingers. “Then shouldn’t it be hidden.”

Yuta knows exactly what Mark is asking, but the question still makes him think. He  _ does _ hide parts of himself because he doesn’t want to hurt others. Mark asked the question about himself though and Yuta is glad to only have to answer to that. 

“Well, sometimes yes but there are cases where society instills the idea into an individual that who they are is wrong or dangerous, when really they just have uneccesary hate that they’ve learned from previous generations bottled up inside.”

“Right.” Mark sits back down, pondering on his drawing. It seems his words didn’t help much. Just how long has Mark been restrained in his life like this?

Reaching for the green ink, Yuta also grabs a new sheet of paper and thinks for a few seconds before starting his new piece. Mark doesn’t seem to notice as Yuta splats two, cute, black eyes on it and gently blows on the ink. “Here,” he hands the paper to Mark. The boy slowly turns his head to look, tilting it to the side upon seeing the green fluffy monster depicted on the page. 

“What is it?”

Yuta bites back a chuckle. “It’s you Mark, can’t you tell by the eyes?” 

Gradually, Mark’s expression changes. First his eyebrows raise, then they lower and his mouth scrunches up a bit, but his final expressions rests on a wide smile. The kind and gleaming eyes move up to greet Yuta. “I’m green and fluffy?”

“I don’t know about the green part, but you’re a bit like an alien.”

“How so?” Mark questions. 

“Well,” Yuta points to the picture, “you’re both a bit weird, but that’s what makes you unique.”

“Hm, and the fluffy part?”

“I’d imagine you’re fluffy too.”

Mark shakes his head, but his grin doesn’t fade. “I’ll make sure to hang this in my room.” The drawing is pushed to the side, but still carefully handled so it’s drying ink doesn’t spill. As both boys resume their drawing session, Yuta’s brain starts turning again like clockwork. He wants to do something fun for Mark, make his worries go away. And his own a little too; there’s only a few days left after all. 

“I have two ideas.”

“This can’t be good,” Mark immediately responds. Yuta pretends to be hurt, gasping and holding his heart. “Fine, fine, speak them.”

“Okay, first, why don’t we both promise one favor for each other? It can be anything, and the other has to do it or go along with it.”

Mark looks at him like he’s crazy. “Why would we do that?”

“Because it’ll be fun! And we’re friends right?” Yuta evilly smirks, a plan in mind. 

“I don’t know…” Mark hesitates to say much more, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly. He lowers in his chair, looking away from Yuta. “I guess I owe you this,” he whispers, barely audible. 

“What?”

“I guess we can do that-”

“Yes!”

“-with one condition.”

Yuta pauses his celebration. 

“You can’t ask to sleep in my bed with me.”

Plopping back into his chair, Yuta shrugs. “Wh-whatever, it’s not like that was what I was going to ask anyways.”

“Okay sure, so what is it that you want me to do?”

“In due time my Prince. Let’s pinky promise on this. I still have another idea to tell you. This one’s even more fun, I promise.” 

Mark pouts. “Pinky promise? What’s that?”

“Like this.” Yuta extends his pinky and nods to Mark’s hand, taking it with his permission and intertwining their smallest fingers. “Then, we cross them and make our thumbs touch. It seals the deal.” Their thumbs meet. 

“But how does it seal it? Is this some kind of magic?”

Yuta shakes his head. “Not unless you count moral conducts and the punishment of guilt as magical tactics.”

“It’s strange though, who came up with this?”

“No clue. Now,” Yuta stands and brings Mark up with him, “let’s go somewhere.”

“Where–” The younger’s words are cut off as Yuta drags him out of the room. They first make a quick stop to Yuta’s room where he grabs a bag of something, then they sneak out into the halls. 

“Yuta,” Mark half-whispers, half-yells, “where are we going? You know I can’t leave the interior of the castle.” All he receives in response is a single finger silencing him. They straighten up as a guard passes, acting natural. Once the patrol is gone, Yuta leans down. 

“It’s somewhere cool. You’ll like it. Now, where is that back exit?”

“What? Back exit? Yuta!” Once again Yuta holds onto Mark’s arm and pulls him along while they fast walk down a back hallway. He doesn’t answer any more questions, just guides Mark through dark halls and avoids working servants. The same smells from his childhood make his eyes water a bit, his stomach churning at the memories returning in his head. Yuta takes a deep breath and keeps focused on his plan, successfully navigating Mark and him to a hidden back exit of the castle. The door is shut tight, but thankfully it isn’t locked. 

Mark exchanges a look with him, his eyes doing all the questioning now that his tongue has taken a rest. He counts to three, then pushes hard against the door. It slowly slides centimeter by centimeter, until a last budge shoves it open, but a large squeak rings out. The Prince panics but Yuta stays calm and holds his hand out to Mark. His eyes go down to the hand, then back up to Yuta’s eyes, then back down again; Mark takes it and begins to run out of the castle with Yuta. 

On the way down the hill that leads into the back forest, Yuta lets out a laugh, beaming at the exhilaration of sneaking  _ the _ Prince out of the castle. Sneaking  _ Mark _ out with him. 

“You’re crazy! I shouldn’t be out like this!” Mark yells at him from behind, once they are a safe distance into the forest. Looking back, Yuta shares his smile and runs backward a bit. 

“Come on, I can take you back, but if you want to see the village by actually being in it, here’s your chance.”

“Wait, hold on!” Mark shouts. They both skid to a stop, huffing intensely from all the sprinting. “Did we just… am I… Yuta, I am  _ outside of the castle _ . The freaking castle!”

“Yes Mark, we are currently in the forest behind it.” Yuta feels tempted to pat down the brown hairs sticking up from Mark’s head but he holds back. 

“Oh my god.” 

Two arms pass Yuta’s vision and a body is thrown around him, with a slight squeezing following; it’s a warm feeling. As quickly as it began, Mark backs away from the hug, slightly flushed. His face is lit by the sun filtering through the surrounding tree’s branches. 

“Let’s go into town, I’m assuming you’ll be my guide?” 

“Of course, right this way, your Highness.” He does a little bow, which Mark scoffs at. Together, they walk side by side over fallen branches and bending bushes until reaching the city. Along the way, Mark marvels at the animals he’s never seen before and points out strangely colored fungi to Yuta. 

Mark’s shadow doesn’t make any moves throughout their short walk, but once they reach the edge leading into the city, Yuta notices Mark’s hesitant steps. 

“The sun’s highest peak has long passed, I don’t think it’ll be too strong. And I’ll be at your side the entire time in case anything happens,” Yuta reassures him. 

“Okay, I did say I trust you.”

“Exactly.”

“Wait,” Mark stops,” should I put on a disguise or something?”

Oh Mark. Sweet and pure and innocent Mark. “Why? No one knows what you look like? There aren’t exactly portraits or statues of you installed everywhere like there are of the King and Queen.” 

“Oh, right, I forgot only those in the palace know what I look like.”

Yuta crosses his arms. “It’s such a shame. But I like keeping such a handsome face as yours all to myself.” Mark shoves him. 

“Let’s just go.” 

Facing the streets of Gwadong’s central city, Mark hides behind Yuta. He slaps at his own ankle and moves further behind the older. 

“Bakery first?” Yuta asks him. Two fists close tightly around the back of his shirt. “I’ll take that as a yes. Sweets always calm me down. Stay close so you won’t get lost.” He takes a step into the street, feeling himself pull Mark along as well. Then, he takes another step, beginning to casually walk into the street. People pass all around, heading to their usuals and paying them no mind. Luckily this area isn’t too crowded, a perfect place to start at. 

“Yuta,” Mark emerges next to him, head swiveling around, “this place is…”

“Keep looking Mark, there’s a lot to see.”

He takes the Prince down this extended walkway, showing off popular shops and avoiding small children playing before dinner. Mark observes everything. They stop at every food station, smelling the sweet and meaty scents while their mouths water. Mark touches everything too. His hand grazes past the textured walls of houses, against wooden stalls and carts laying around. Almost every toy and cloth shop is visited by them as well, Mark’s eyes gaining more sparkles at each place. 

By the end of the road, Mark is practically skipping, turning in each step, a grin so wide on his face. Nothing can ruin it, not even his occasional slapping at his shadow trying to annoy him. 

They turn down one street and reach the bakery, where Yuta lets him pick out a treat. He gets one blueberry and one strawberry tart along with the strawberry turnover that Mark wants. Since the baker knows him, he gives him a small discount, but Yuta silently tells him not to say anything in front of his friend while Mark is off looking at some candies. 

When exiting the bakery, Mark can barely wait to dig into his turnover, practically scarfing it down. Yuta keeps his two tarts untouched. 

“Slow down or you’ll choke,” he comments, “have you never had a turnover before?”

“No,” Mark says through two big bites, “they don’t make these at the castle. At least never as fresh as this.”

Yuta smiles. “I’m glad you like it. I have a few more places to show you before we head back, is that okay?” Mark eagerly nods, finishing his treat. 

“Where to next?”

“My house.” 

Mark’s eyes widen. “Really? The tiny, cute one?” 

“Yes, that one.” He begins to lead the Prince through some smaller, less crowded streets. There’s less light in the alleys as well, hopefully Mark’s shadow won’t do too much here. “Mark, there’s one thing you should know before we go there.”

“What is it?”

Kun knows now, and Yuta trusts Mark… but is it a good idea to tell him about Shina and Ayaka? His parents are the King and Queen after all and not that Mark would deliberately tell them, but he might accidentally slip. Or they might pry it out of him. 

“Nothing really, we just can’t go inside. I’m going to quickly drop off these tarts in my cooling space then let’s visit my workplace.”

Looking a little disappointed, Mark nods and lets him lead the way. Yuta’s chest tightens. Someday all these little lies won’t have to be told, but Mark needs to be protected first. 

When they reach his house, Yuta lets Mark come to the back where there’s shade, then quickly enters, closing the door tight behind him. 

“Ayaka!” Yuta whispers. He quickly takes off his shoes and carefully walks to the table, placing the bag down. “Ayaka I know you’d be home at this hour. I bought tarts for you and Shina-” An object comes flying at him and Yuta ducks. The object hits the wall with a  _ thud _ , falling to the floor and revealing itself as a slipper. He looks to where it came from, and there standing at the bottom of their stairs, is Ayaka. 

Yuta slowly approaches, and the closer he comes, the more he can see a shine in his little sister’s eyes. She doesn’t make any moves until a breath escapes her and she lunges herself to Yuta, hugging him firmly. 

“Idiot, what are you doing here! You’re supposed to be in the castle. Shina will be pissed! And I’m pissed!”

He hugs her tighter, a calm washing over him. “Ayaka I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it completely through when I left but, this is my choice. I’m going to protect the Prince.” She pulls away, wiping a tear from her face. As usual, Ayaka puts up an act and crosses her arms, turning her head away. 

“I know. That’s what we do right? We’re Nakamotos after all.”

“Yeah, we are. But Aya,” Yuta gets her to face him again, “You know you’re just as important to me as doing this, right? In two days I’ll be back for good.” Her eyes waver back and forth, but she looks past him to the bag on the table. 

“There better be a blueberry in there for me or I’m never letting you back into this house.” 

Yuta grins. “Naturally. Blueberry for you and Strawberry for Shina.”

“Ooh, I see you’re trying to lessen her anger by giving her sweets. Clever, but it’ll never work.” 

“I can always try.”

Ayaka walks to the bag and pulls out her tart, licking her lips at it’s sight. “What are you doing here anyways?” 

“Right! I sneaked out of the castle and the Prince is in our backyard right now so I kind of need to go.” 

“Why must you always do such troublesome things,” Ayaka sighs. He always loves her responses, they’re funnily relaxed, stark in contrast to how Shina handles things. 

“Goodbye Ayaka, I love you.” 

She stops biting into her tart. “I love you too. You better return in one piece in two days.” Yuta considers making a joke about how Shina will do that herself but he remembers what will be happening in two days and quietly slips out instead. It takes all his strength to close the door and leave his sister behind once again. 

“What took you so long?” Mark’s voice makes Yuta jump a bit, he almost forgot that there would be someone out here waiting. 

Yuta turns around. “I just had to use the bathroom quickly, sorry about that. Off to my work now?”

“Yes, let’s go!” Mark excitedly paces to the front of the house. “Which way? Oh and what do you work as?” 

“This way,” Yuta points, “I work in a flower shop, remember? It was one of the questions they asked me when I entered the palace and I thought they told you?” The Prince stops. 

“Right…” Several paces pass by in silence. They’re close to the central market and the flower shop, but Yuta slows to delay their arrival. 

“Everything okay?”

“My shadow. It doesn’t like flowers, like, really hates them. It starts to act up when I’m around them and when I tried to have some in my room once, it destroyed them. I don’t want to ruin your flower shop,” Mark explains, his smile now replaced with a crisp and devastating frown. 

“Mark, that’s no problem. We don’t have to go. It’s getting pretty late anyways so we should head back, before they come looking to tell us it’s dinnertime.” 

Mark nods in agreement, still looking a bit sullen. A thought pops into Yuta’s head, he quickly turns around. 

“What are you-”

“Stay here,” he commands Mark, “I’ll be right back.” Yuta leaves a perplexed Mark who runs his fingers through his hair. He avoids looking at anyone. It’s no doubt his disappearance got out, at least to the regulars near this area. 

Upon reaching Ten’s flower shop, Yuta takes a deep breath and pushes the door open. His luck must be going all out today because, as he looks around, he finds it empty.  _ Ten must be making bouquets in the back.  _

He works quickly, locating his target, carefully picking a lovely purple one, then tossing some coins into a box and leaving with his purchase. Yuta hurriedly skips back to the alley where he left Mark, holding the present behind his back.

“What did you do?”

Yuta smirks. “I got you something.”

Mark tilts his head. “What?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” He holds out the object, watching as Mark’s shining eyes observe the flower extended towards him. 

“It’s…”

“It’s an artificial flower, Mark. Hopefully your shadow won’t be able to destroy this one. At least not in one swift hit.”

“Oh my god…”

Yuta rubs his neck. “I thought it might work.” The petite purple flower is gently plucked from his hand, Mark admiring it in front of him. 

“We should probably go back now,” the Prince says, not removing his gaze from the bloom. 

“Yeah, lets go.” Yuta holds Mark’s wrist again, turning through the streets ingrained in his head since childhood. Every inch of him feels refreshed being back in his home. The palace may be comfy, but even if he was a Prince, Yuta knows no palace will ever have the warmth a city provides. The atmosphere isn’t as caring, potentially a result of the current King and Queen, but the expectations inside create a colder gaze among its habitants. Here, you aren’t expected to be much more than what you are. 

Throughout the entire forest trip back, Yuta notices Mark holding the flower close to himself. Even when he trips or stumbles, either on a branch or his shadow, Mark only stables himself with one hand, the other intent on protecting it’s purple object. 

Once they reach the exit they escaped from, Yuta peeks in first, making sure no one is around. Hardly any servants or guards know about this passage, not even the King and Queen themselves, but occasionally a lost new hire will accidentally wander in, so it’s always good to check. 

He motions to Mark, confirming that it’s clear, and the two of them quietly enter.

Out of the servants wing, the two of them race down several halls, laughing as they both slip at each sharp turn. Yuta almost knocks into some displayed armor, but stables it quickly while Mark both laughs and panics behind him. 

Tired from their adventure, the two friends slow down to catch their breaths, and because Mark’s shadow kept tripping him and Yuta didn’t want the boy to take a bad spill. 

“Did we really just do all of that?” Mark asks through heaving breaths. 

“Should I pinch you to confirm you aren’t dreaming?” Yuta jokes; he receives a playful shove in retaliation. 

“Minhyung.” A cold tone slices through their fun and freezes both boys. Yuta immediately bows while Mark straightens up, tentatively stepping forward. 

“Hello, Mother.”

The Queen purses her lips, tsking at her son. “Minhyung, we’ve been searching for you all evening. Where in the heavens were you?”

Mark gulps, opening his mouth to answer, “I was with Yuta. He asked to do art so I got some supplies out and we spent most of the day creating works. Yuta is quite a good artist actually.” Yuta watches from behind, not raising his head up too much. It still boils his blood to look directly at the Gwadong tyrants, especially the Queen. 

“What’s that?” The Queen nods to the flower in Mark’s hand, a sour expression pinching her face.

“Oh! Don’t worry, it’s fake! Yuta gave it to me.” 

Yuta sees the way the Queen is glaring at the flower, then at him. “I made it for him,” Yuta quickly adds. It’s a plausible enough excuse: they  _ were _ working with paper most of the day.

“I see. Mark, please go and wash up for dinner. I must speak with Mr. Na here about what will be happening in two days.” Mark glances back at Yuta, eyes filled with concern. Yuta gives him a smile to reassure him, although he’s not sure what about. 

“I will see you at dinner, Yuta, Mother. Excuse me.” Disappearing down the hallway, Mark leaves to wash up. 

The Queen takes a step towards Yuta. Behind his back, his hands clasp, tightening around one another. 

“Mr. Na,” she speaks in a tone of disgust, “I’m getting the feeling you already know of what the curse is at this point.” Yuta opens his mouth to try and lie but she gives him one look and he decides not to say anything, just lower his head. “No worries. It’s only natural, especially since you have been spending so much time with my son. But I hope you haven’t forgotten about what must happen after it’s transferred. Even if you are thinking you’d be able to handle the curse in your old life, that cannot happen. For Mark’s sake, right?”

“Yes, your majesty. I am aware.” 

“Good,” she hisses, “Don’t forget.” Yuta keeps his head bowed, watching her feet as they step further and further away. He closes his eyes when she’s gone, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. 

Right. Yuta almost forgot about being banished in two days. He thought he could figure it out along the way, but it was his mistake to think the King and Queen would ever relax about anything. In two days, he will be out of Gwadong, probably forever. Yuta has no idea what to do about Ayaka and Shina, how to tell them. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have come. 

But then again, the reason why he came is what all of them have been trying to do since their parents died. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  Day 5

Breakfast is quiet. Hardly any guards are in the room, not concerned with protecting Yuta like they are with the King and Queen. The servants dropped everything in front of him then left. 

What’s strange though, is that Mark isn’t here. They agreed yesterday while drawing that they’d have breakfast together, since neither really enjoyed spending the mornings with the King and Queen. Yuta asked Mark why, and the Prince’s only answer was that his parents become hangry, especially in the morning. 

Slowly nibbling on a sugar glazed pastry, his doomed destiny keeps running through his head. Yuta didn’t sleep too well last night again, his brain preoccupied with creating possible scenarios. It didn’t go too well, seeing as most of them end up with him dead. He thought about pretending to leave the city and then returning to his home, but the King and Queen probably would be placing guards to monitor that. 

It seems they’re quite intent on him being gone or dead. While Yuta does believe they care for their son, he’s not sure it’s  _ that  _ much. At least not enough to threaten the person about to take on his curse with banishment or death. Maybe that is their kind of love though. It’s similar to a sacrifice for your kid...right?

“Are you done Mr. Na?” Yuta hears the voice, but it takes a few seconds for it to register that he is the one being spoken to. 

“Ah, yes. I’m about to leave, thank you.” Yuta pops the last bite of the pastry in his mouth and folds his napkin up, leaving it on his empty plate before exiting the dining room. He has to be more careful not to slip up. Far too many times has he not answered to Na, it’s shortened version of his actual name not being accepted in his mind. 

After leaving the dining room, Yuta starts looking for Mark right away. He checks his room, the library, several studies, even peeks into the throne room, but the Prince is nowhere to be found. Saddened, Yuta gives up looking by himself and tries to find Kun to ask him if he knows where Mark is, but Kun doesn’t seem to be around either. 

On his way back to the main area of the castle, Yuta stops by a window, observing the guard training currently happening out on the courtyard. He spots Shina right away, commanding the amatuers in a perfect teaching style. She’s always been good at communicating with others, giving them a smile and winning them over. Being a trainer and captain of the guard, she does her job extremely well. 

Yuta forces himself to move on. He can’t think about his sisters right now, even if the guilt inside of him keeps jabbing at his sides and the back of his neck, prodding him to abandon this place and go back to everything before. Things before though… nothing would have changed unless Yuta came here. Nothing. 

“Excuse me,” Yuta says to a passing servant, stopping her, “Can you tell me where Prince Mark is?” 

“Oh Mr. Na,” she bows a little, then bits her lip, “I’m not sure. I don’t think I have the liberty to tell you, I’m sorry.” 

“Please, I don’t think it’ll do any harm. Besides, I am allowed to ask for anything right?”

She deliberates, looking around a couple times. “Well, I guess. The Prince is up in the high tower currently. If you take the central stairs up to the fourth floor then head to the back of the left wing, you’ll find a wooden door plated with golden iron. Behind it are the stairs that lead up to the tower.”

“Thank you.” Yuta lets her go and immediately follows the directions she gave, not wasting a minute and skipping up the stairs two at a time. When he reaches the door she described, Yuta pauses for a bit to catch his breath. 

Placing two hands on the door, he pushes it open easier than expected and walks into a narrow and winding staircase. Not much light comes in from the windows, their texture making a translucent red color that filters the light. He closes the door and heads up, a bit dizzy by the end from the constant turning. 

Yuta steps out into a circular room. Books line the walls on shelves and lay littered on the floor. Several pillows are scattered across the panelled floors. Windows line the walls where shelves don’t block the walls, they are filtered as well, but these filters seem stronger. The light that comes into the room is bright enough to see well and read, but it’s very fuzzy, the shadows all blending into one. 

Beneath each window is an extending sitting area, cushions and pillows propped up on it, and on one there lies Mark. His face is hidden in a book, fingers tightly gripping it closer to himself. 

Yuta clears his throat: Mark jumps, almost dropping the book. 

“Holy mother of- How did you get up here Yuta?”

“I took the stairs.” Yuta points to the stairs. Mark exhales and puts his book down carefully, sitting up to face Yuta. 

“I mean, how did you A: know about this place and B: know how to get up here?” 

“I was looking for you, and someone told me you’d be up here.” He approaches the Prince, gathering a few pillows on the ground and piling them up to make a comfy seat on the floor. Now that he’s next to Mark, when he looks up he notices how distressed Mark seems. “Sorry, I can leave if you don’t want me here.” Yuta moves to leave but a hand on his shoulder lowers him back down. 

“No, stay.”

“Okay,” Yuta observes the room again, “cool place but, why are you hiding up here?” Mark removes his hand and picks up his book again, repositioning himself on the seat. 

“I’m hiding from my shadow. It wouldn’t leave me alone last night and this morning it kept breaking things and hitting me or pinching me.” Yuta frowns. “Sometimes it does this, so when it’s one of these days I can come up here. Kun found a way to install glass on the windows that blurs the light so I can still see, but my shadow can’t hurt me as much.”

“Kun is quite the warlock.”

“Yeah.” 

Yuta turns his attention to a nearby stack of books and looks through them, picking out a couple interesting ones. 

“I’m sorry.” Mark whispers behind him. 

“For what?”

The Prince’s eyes widen. “Oh you heard that? Sorry, it’s just, we can’t really hang out today because I’m stuck up here.”

Fondly gazing at him, Yuta shakes his head. “You’re wrong, we can still hang out. I’ll stay up here all day too then. You know I love reading too.”

“You do,” Mark’s face slowly forms a smile, but in an instance it drops. Yuta’s eyebrows pinch down slightly, and the corner of his lips downturn too; now he can see it, the shadows under Mark’s eyes, an ice pack resting on his ankle, and a bandage barely peaks out from under his sleeve. “I’m also sorry that you’ll have to deal with all this Yuta.”

“Mark,” Yuta places a hand on his book, “You don’t need to feel sorry or guilty about passing over your curse. I willingly chose to take it, and I don’t mind suffering if it means you won’t have to anymore.”

For a second, the world slows again. The golden glow behind Mark highlights his beautiful features. 

Mark doesn’t say anything. Deciding to break the moment, Yuta takes his hand away and leans back against the seat, settling in while picking up a book from his pile. 

“Shall we get to reading then?” he offers. Mark hums a yes and moves to hold up his book again. 

They truly spend all day in the tower together, comfortable in silence with each other, next to each other but both off in different worlds painted by the words of their novels. Yuta’s favorite part about the room, besides Mark being there, is how the light sometimes changes from an orange glow to a yellow or a pretty red. He’s not sure how, but it’s probably some kind of magic Kun used. 

Occasionally, one of them will take a break, and together they grab a quick lunch, but return right back to reading. Several times, Mark continually adjusts or swats at something in the air. He takes off his bandages at one point, harsh scratch marks revealed on his forearm. Mark was complaining they were itching, but once he’d applied some cream to stop it, Yuta offered to re-wrap it for him. 

While Mark gently plays with Yuta’s hair, running his fingers through and picking up strands then dropping them, Yuta feels tempted to sleep. The atmosphere doesn’t help to keep him awake, nor do the tender fingers flipping his hair around. Eventually, he closes his eyes for a second, then wakes up to a shake on his shoulder. 

“Yuta, wake up, it’s dinnertime,” Mark says to him. 

Coming to, Yuta realizes he’d taken a nap and groans. “I feel asleep, didn’t I?”

Mark chuckles, throwing a pillow to him. “Sure did, did you know you both snore and talk in your sleep?” 

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Mark tilts his head. “How?” Right, Yuta’s an only child here. 

“When I was in the orphanage the other kids would tell me about it,” he lies. The feeling burns his chest, he doesn’t want to lie to Mark. 

“You must’ve been one annoying roommate then,” teases Mark. 

Yuta rolls his eyes and stands from his pillow throne. “Yeah, I’m convinced when they kicked me out at 16 it wasn’t because I was 16 but because they were done with my snoring.” 

Mark shakes his head. “Come on, dinner awaits.” 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

Walking back from dinner, Yuta has to steady Mark. The Prince is practically wobbling from sleep deprivation. His ankle has a nasty bruise as well and his palms are reddened from fighting off his shadow during dinner. 

Mark stumbles again and Yuta catches him, pulling him upright. “Sorry Yuta,” Mark yawns, “I’m just really tired.”

“I can tell, let’s get you to bed.” 

As they walk, Yuta becomes increasingly worried for Mark. Wisps of black flash across the floor and on the walls, shaped like tongues of fire that reach out to burn Mark. 

“Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?” Yuta asks him while they turn into his room’s hallway. 

“Probably not but, I’m used to it.” Yuta frowns at Mark’s answer. The guards let him enter with Mark, noticing how droopy the Prince is. Mark flops on his bed, face buried into the covers. Going over to a side table, Yuta grabs some fresh bandages for Mark’s arm. On the table, he spots a small vase, a single purple flower resting in it. Yuta smiles at it. 

He sits on the bed next to Mark and picks up the hurt arm, sliding back the sleeves and carefully unwrapping his current bandage. “Are you going to shower?” Mark nods, still facedown. “Then I’ll change this after. You should go wash up quickly and I’ll be here waiting, then you can sleep.”

“Mhm.” It takes about a minute then before Mark starts to move, trudging over to his private bathroom with the pajamas that were kept under his pillows in hand. It doesn’t take long for him to emerge again, hair wet and eyes still drooping with the heaviness of craved sleep. He plops on the bed and holds out his arm, simultaneously stomping at something on the floor. Yuta takes care to cover his scratches completely and not too tightly. 

“There, all done.” 

Mark brings his arm back, eyes opening and closing while shadows dance around him. With his job done, Yuta should leave now, but leaving Mark in this state isn’t right. He’s noticed this before, but if he stands close enough to Mark, the shadows don’t come near where he is. So maybe…

“I’ll stay in here tonight Mark.”

“Hm?” Mark barely manages. 

“You need sleep, and I think it’ll help if I can be in here. Let me just shower quickly, do you have any extra pairs of pajamas in here?” 

Barely conscious, Mark points to a drawer. Yuta grabs a blue pair of flannel pjs and enters the bathroom. “I’ll be right out okay, you’ll be fine until then?” 

“Mhm.” 

Yuta slips into the shower. The hot water of the castle has been keeping him in longer, but today he steps in, washes, and steps out. Returning to the room, Yuta finds Mark shivering underneath his covers, eyes still fighting sleep in order to see when a shadow is coming to hurt him. “Mark, I’m getting in the bed now, is that okay?” 

“Mhm.”

“Can you manage a yes? It doesn’t feel right to count that as a confirmation.”

Mark turns his head to him and stares for a few seconds, his eyes begging for help from him. “Yes,” Mark says confidently. 

With the proper consent, Yuta slips under the covers and hesitantly inches closer to Mark until their shoulders touch. Once another shadow pinches Mark, Yuta doesn’t gold back in wrapping his arms around Mark’s torso, covering him almost completely with his arms. Mark’s body is shaking a bit: he feels cold and a bit frail. It tugs within him, a sting in the corner of his eyes. 

“It’s okay Mark,” he whispers into the Prince’s neck, “I’m here with you now. It can’t hurt you, get some rest.” Mark inhales and exhales deeply, releasing tension. Yuta assumes he closes his eyes, because soon Mark doesn’t move anymore and the shadows stop targeting him. Relaxing himself, Yuta slowly drifts off, happy Mark is able to sleep tonight. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  Day 6

Yuta is the first to wake up. A warmth at his side brings him to his surroundings. Through his favorite window, the sun sprinkles down, outlining the body next to him. Mark is facing him, face peaceful and cutely squished against the pillow. He finds himself smiling, the sight before him more beautiful than any flower found in the world. Mark’s hair is quite a mess, sticking against his pillow, but it’s fluffy too. His lighter brown highlights show under the sun. 

Mark stirs a bit, but he doesn’t wake. Every second Yuta spends gazing at his friend, another thought enters his mind, until there are only three words repeated that quickly replace his smile with a frown. 

_ Only today left. _

It’s his sixth day in the castle. Which means tomorrow the curse is transferred, and following so, he is banished. Regardless of what happens after, this is Yuta’s last day with Mark. 

Yuta’s tummy twists a bit. His goal has always been to protect the Prince, and now he’s finally able to accomplish that but… 

Shina was right, again. Yuta doesn’t know how he’ll protect Mark after all this. And how will Mark feel when his only friend seemingly abandons him and leaves the kingdom forever?

His eyes shut, hands coming up to cover his face. Everything is a mess now. His stomach feels weird everytime he’s around Mark, and there’s a strange flutter in his body when the Prince looks at him with those eyes. When he thinks about having to leave Mark, everything inside feels like it’ll tear apart if he does, yet the pain is different from when he thinks about leaving his sisters. They’re both strong, just different. 

Hoping out of bed, Yuta pulls the cover completely over Mark and tucks him in better, in case he’s cold still. Then, he goes to the closet and searches for some clothes. Mark won’t mind if he borrows some for a day… probably. 

Upon revealing the inside of the wardrobe, the first thing facing Yuta is a chic suit, fancy with light swirling red patterns and a small frilled collar. Imagining Mark wearing it comes to Yuta’s mind, but he quickly shakes it away and pushes the suit away, grabbing an outfit for himself. 

Rustling sounds come from the bed and Yuta looks back as he buttons his last button to see a groggy Mark sitting up. He rubs his eyes upon seeing Yuta in his room, but then covers his face. 

Yuta chuckles. “Good morning, your Highness.”

“Yes, good morning Yuta,” Mark manages to say through his hands. When he drops them, Yuta can see the Prince’s reddened face. 

“Did you sleep well?” 

“I-” Mark sighs and then smiles up at him, “I actually did. Um. Thank you.”

Yuta shakes his head, then walks over and pushes some of Mark’s stray hairs down. “You say thank you too much. We’re friends, we take care of each other.” Mark quickly pats down the rest of his hair and begins to climb out of bed. “I know what I want for my favor by the way.”

Mark motions for him to turn around as he gets dressed and Yuta complies. “Oh yeah? What?”

“It’s a bit of a secret. But don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous. Meet me in the ballroom after dinner tonight.”

“What?”

“Oh, and wear a suit.”

“Why?” Mark questions.

Yuta smirks to himself. “I told you, it’s a secret. You’ll find out tonight.”

“You and your secrets,” Mark scoffs. He walks up next to Yuta, dressed properly now. “Breakfast?” 

“Of course.” Yuta opens the door for him and together they exit the room. The look on the two guard’s faces is priceless when Yuta emerges from the room. He’s not sure if the guards are switched out at any point, but he’s definitely met these guards before and been denied access to Mark’s bedroom. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

A rock collides with Yuta’s foot and skids across several meters on the stone path. After breakfast, Mark had to attend some lesson or lecture or something, leaving Yuta all alone. He decided to go to the garden, the insides of the castle too familiar to him for comfort. Here he’s discovered a winding pathway that takes a tour through many evolving statues and interestingly trimmed bushes. There’s a couple fountains as well and hanok style houses scattered around which create shade and provide small areas of refreshing coolness. 

It’s quite empty in this area, which is how Yuta prefers to spend his evenings when Mark isn’t around. Gives him time to collect his thoughts, to recover his balance, and sort out all his worries. 

Today it doesn’t seem to be working, though. Yuta sighs and places himself on a bench hidden behind some bushes where a small spitting fountain rests in front of him. He pokes the water a couple times, perplexed at the freezing cold water when it’s quite warm outside. 

“Room for two?” A voice asks. It comes from a head peering around the bush, someone he doesn’t expect. Yuta nods and scoots over on the bench so she can sit too. 

“Shina what-”

“Listen, Yuta, I’m on my break but I only have a limited amount of time. And no one can see us talking or they’ll ask questions.”

Yuta reaches his arms around her, not caring if she’s still angry. He misses his older sister. 

“I missed you too,” she says hesitantly. Shina pulls away from the hug and holds him at a distance. “Are you really going through with this?” She asks. 

“Yes,” Yuta answers. “I can’t exactly back out now anyways.”

She sighs, dropping her arms. “I know, but, I’m just…”

“Worried?”

“Sure. Call it that.” Shina denies it but Yuta knows his sister and that slight raise of her ears whenever she gets worried over something. 

Yuta faces her. “I know you are, but I’ll be back right after it’s over, and Mark told me what the curse is. We’ve been spending a lot of time together so I know how it works and already know a few ways to handle and deal with it. Although, I might have to find a different job.”

“Mark? You’ve been spending time with the Prince?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I came here to protect him and also he’s really kind and cute. There’s a lot of little things he doesn’t know or get but it’s a lot of fun to watch him as he discovers them and asks questions. And the way his eyes light up when he sees or hears something he likes. He’s unlike any Prince I’ve met before.”

Shina raises an eyebrow. “You haven’t met any Princes besides Mark before.”

“I know but, you know what I mean. Shina, he’s literally so cute sometimes I feel like my insides are twisting because of it. But then at other times he’s so… sophisticated? Mature and handsome, and he knows how to handle his parents.”

“Hm, I see.”

Yuta rubs the back of his neck. “He’s also… really cuddly.”

“I…”

“I can explain.”

Shina stares him down. “Can you?”

“Well, no, not yet. But, I don’t know. I kind of went on a tangent but he’s really sweet Shina, and quite sharp too. Nothing like his parents. Our’s were right when they tasked us with protecting him. It’s not that he can’t do it himself, but his parents are on a whole other level. They restrain him within the castle and control his schedule. I don’t think they’ve ever spent more than mealtime with Mark.” Yuta frowns at his own words. 

“You’re going to be able to say goodbye to him after tomorrow, right?”

“What?” Yuta defensively scoffs. “Yeah, why? I mean, I’ll see him in the future, just not, like now.”

“Okay, well, sorry to change the topic from Prince Mark but we really need to discuss what will happen tomorrow.”

“That I will take care of.” Yuta doesn’t know if he really will, but if he keeps up a false confidence the tears won’t spill over. “Trust me.”

“The second it’s transferred I want you to go home. Ayaka is taking off tomorrow to wait for your return home. Ten asked about you too, by the way, he was pretty upset after we told him but he promised not to tell and wants to be the first one to give you flowers when you return.”

Yuta laughs. “Tell him I don’t think the flowers will be necessary.” 

Thankfully, Shina doesn’t question it. “I want you to promise me you’ll return.” His smile stops. 

“Shina-”

“Promise me,” she persists. 

Yuta swallows, his hands trembling a bit: he stuffs them under his thighs. “I can’t do that yet.”

“Why?” Shina stands up. The atmosphere heats up a bit and Yuta looks away, knowing her eyes will be rays of lasers that’ll blaze right through him. 

“I can’t tell you,” he barely speaks. 

Shina crosses her arms. “Nakamoto Yuta.” 

Yuta tilts his head up but continues to avoid her eyes.

“You will come home tomorrow to our home and younger sister Ayaka.”

He can’t say it. He can’t promise it, because Yuta knows that won’t be the outcome. “I…” 

“Fine!” Shina shouts at him. “Whatever your plan is, all that better happen is that you return to us goddammit. You know we can’t lose another one of us. So come. Home.” That stinging in the corner of his eyes comes, a pressure closes around his throat. Yuta finally looks up to his sister, a small stream of tears flows from her eyes, disappointedly looking down at him. 

All this time, Yuta forgot to see it from her and Ayaka’s view. He’s suddenly gone off to the palace, without giving details and a not-very-promising promise to return. He told them he was going to go protect the Prince. 

All of that was exactly what his parents did. They did not return. 

Now, Shina and Ayaka must be having fears come up again that he won’t make it back. Yuta’s only about to make that fear come true, but he still doesn’t have the heart to tell Shina. 

“What do I say to Ayaka if you don’t return?” 

Yuta shakes his head. “I will come back. I will. I just don’t know when.” 

“There it is. The confession. I don’t know why you’re leaving, but I’m going to leave you now to think things over. Goodbye Yuta.” 

“Shina!” With her hair tossed behind her, Yuta’s older sister ignores his calls and stomps away through the garden. Yuta holds his head in his hands and bites at his lip, unable to hold it all back though, he lets a few tears slip. They fall to the dirt beneath him and make small stains in it. He stares at the blotches until they fade away into the soil. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

“Excuse me?” Shina halts. She knows that voice. Immediately, Shina backs up and turns, bowing in the same action. 

“Your Majesty, how may I help you?”

The Queen looks at her up and down. “You’re a captain of the guard, correct?” Shina nods. “Tell me, what is your name?” 

“My name is Na Shina, your Majesty.”

“Na is it? Would you happen to have any relation to that boy you were just talking to behind that bush?”

Shina swallows. “I’m not sure what you mean exactly.”

Tsking, the Queen begins to circle her. “What I mean to ask is if there is any familial or friendly relations between you and Na Yuta. I saw you two discussing something rather intimately and I’m wondering if you have some kind of engagement with him?”

“Oh no, nothing like that your majesty,” Shina answers. She almost gags at the question but manages to keep a straight face. 

“Really? Hm,” The Queen stops on her right side, “Then, how are you two related, may I ask? You seem far friendlier than just good friends or strangers.”

“Your majesty such a question is-”

“Is required to be answered. Don’t forget I am the Queen and you are but a lowly servant, no matter if you’re captain of the guard or not. Now, tell me your relation with Mr. Na!”

“He’s my brother,” Shina rapidly answers. Her hand floats up to her mouth, eyes wide in realization. 

“Oh? When Yuta arrived he told us he was an only child? But now we discover he has a sister, and she works in our very own castle? How exciting.” The Queen stands in front of Shina once more and reaches out a hand. Two long fingers grab her cheeks, forcing her head up. “Now, tell me  _ everything _ about your family.”

“Your-”

“No, no. Don’t even try to deny me. Because if you don't,” she leans in close, “I’ll kill your precious little brother the second the curse has been transferred.” 

Shina shuts her eyes closed. The three of them are about to be in deep trouble. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

In between lectures, Yuta gets to visit Mark and help take his mind off the boring subjects of whatever Princely duties there are. After every laugh and smile though, Yuta notices a slight strain in Mark’s eyebrows. His lips are just a little too downturned, his eyes a little too dull, their shine diminished greatly. He doesn’t want to sour the mood anymore than it already has, so Yuta decides not to ask him about it until later. 

Before “later” comes, Yuta puts his newest plan into action. He finds some servants and asks for a suit, as a favor. He’d almost forgotten he can demand for pretty much anything and then get it. Within three hours, they brought a plethora of divine suits for Yuta to try on and choose from. Since he would be wearing it tonight, Yuta said there was no tailoring necessary. In the end, he chose a dark blue suit with sleeves that match the collar of the suit in Mark’s closet. 

With everything set, all that was left was to have dinner and then head to the ballroom. 

When Mark arrives at the ballroom, Yuta almost stops breathing. His hair is combed nicely, a little tuft coming over his eye. There’s a certain glow about him, and the way Mark carries himself makes Yuta swoon. 

The Prince is wearing the exact suit Yuta saw in his closet. There were at least four others in there as well, and secretly he had hoped Mark wore this one. 

Mark saunters over, looking Yuta up and down in his own blue outfit. 

“Whoa where did you…?”

“Oh, this?” Yuta playfully shows off his suit. “I had it brought over while you were in classes. But you’re even more stunning– I mean yours is even more stunning.” 

Mark gives him a strange look but moves on. “So what is this favor?” The Prince asks while stomping on his shadow. 

“We,” Yuta points to the two of them, “are going to have a ball.”

Mark blinks. 

“I’ve never been to one,” Yuta explains, shyly looking away, “and I don’t think I’ll ever get to attend one so…”

“Is this my favor to you?”

“Yes. Just a few dances.” 

Mark takes a deep breath, then tilts his head up. “How did you get these lights on?”

“I asked them to turn them on.”

“Well we can’t dance without music.”

“I requested a small orchestra, they’re tuning their strings in a back room right now.”

“Do my parents know?” Mark asks, this question sounds the shakiest. 

Yuta holds out his hand. “No, but if you really don’t want to do this-”

“No, I will.” Mark smiles at him, eyes sparkling once again. The musicians enter the room, taking their places at a few chairs and stands set up nearby. They don’t even wait for a cue to start playing, practically still walking over when they start. 

“Prince Lee Minhyung, may I have this dance?”

“Of course,” Mark answers. 

Taking one another’s hands, they find their positions and start the dance. Both know the steps, and alternate on who leads, an unspoken coordination organizing between the two. 

As they swirl around the room, Yuta becomes lost in Mark’s eyes. Pure brown, the most beautiful shade. Flecks of lighter tans and deep ambers fill his irises, but it’s the kindness and innocence behind those eyes that draw Yuta in. 

Next, he finds himself lost in Mark’s smile and laugh. The sound is sweet, higher in pitch and contains more breath but it’s continuous rings are a delight to the ears. 

Not long into their dance, both are wandering with one another. They spin and twirl, making circles around the room and around one another. Each step they take carries them further and further, then back towards the middle of the ballroom. At some point, Yuta feels as if he and Mark are floating, flying away from this miserable place and lifting off to be safe and content forever. He doesn’t want to return to reality or the constructs of time. With Mark, he can always find an escape. One that lets them both finally breath and feel relief in one another’s company. 

Dance after dance, they cover almost the entire ballroom floor. Mark suggests taking a break and Yuta agrees. He asks the musicians to keep the music playing, then takes Mark’s hand and leads him out to the balcony. 

The night air is refreshing, a slight breeze whispering across their faces and letting them know it is a perfect night. Stars show above, and an almost scene-like reflection of the sky is in the village below. Lights still on in houses create pseudo-stars, connecting together to make endless new constellations. 

“Wow,” Mark says, peering over the edge. Yuta joins him at his side. 

“Have you ever seen it at night before?”

“No… it’s beautiful.”

Yuta looks over the city, then catches a glimpse of Mark admiring it all. He turns his head to the sky. “Yeah, it really is beautiful.” 

“Yuta?”

“Hm?” He lowers his head. Mark now rests his arms on the banister, expression fallen a bit. 

“I just want to say I’m sorry. I know it’s your choice to take the curse, but it wasn’t my choice to give it. If I could, I would keep it forever so no one would have to suffer, especially not you.”

“Mark,” Yuta joins him in resting his arms on the banister, their shoulders brushing together, “I understand. I want to take the curse so that you don’t have to suffer from it anymore. I know I can tell you it’s my choice over and over again, and tell you I don’t want you to feel guilty about this, but I don’t think those words will change anything.” 

Mark shrugs while looking over at Yuta’s hand. 

“However, I can show you how much you won’t need to worry. Hopefully that will be a lot stronger than words.” 

“How?”

“When it’s transferred, I’ll be happy knowing you are no longer hurting, and therefore the curse can’t hurt me more than a scratch or a kick.”

“Can I ask why you care about me so much?” Their eyes meet. Surprised by the question, Yuta takes several seconds to respond. 

“Because… I mean,” Yuta reels it in, “you’re the Prince. And I will gladly serve my future King.” 

Mark’s eyes lower, the light in them flickering. “Oh. Yeah. That makes sense.”

Something inside Yuta snaps and he gives up. “To be honest though, that’s not mainly why. I came here to protect you because I’d heard about you, about how amiable you are, how courteous and benevolent. Someone with your personality and stature should never be unfairly punished. Then when I met you, I could clearly see why they call you those things.”

“Why?” Mark presses, eyes alight now and staring at Yuta intently. 

“You’re adorable, Mark. I don’t know how else to put it.”

“I’m not a kid though?”

“Yeah, I mean cute in a mature kind of way. You have such a strong aura, and just so much likability about you. Everything you do ends up amazing, even the mistakes you make are beautiful.” Mark has no response and Yuta exhales. He turns around, elbows replacing the spots where his hands were on the banister. “Did I ever tell you I used to be a guard in training here at the castle?”

“I don’t think so?”

Yuta gives a small, weak laugh. “Yeah. If you can believe it. I wasn’t too bad. I just wanted a position protecting the royal family like all the others, and it gives a nice wager, but I got into a fight with a fellow classmate. Punches were thrown, I may have kicked him once or twice after he threw dirt at me.”

“Yuta!”

“What? It was self defense at that point,” Yuta states. He looks up to the starry sky, watching as each star pulses, seemingly communicating with its far away neighbors on what story to tell tonight. “After that I got thrown out of the academy. And I could no longer protect you or anyone else. But this, this is another chance to keep you safe.” 

The next few minutes they observe the world in silence. Standing next to each other with shoulders touching, both Mark and Yuta wonder about the following day and what solemn it may bring. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

A knock at Yuta’s door startles him. Not more than the head that peaks into his room while he’s busy climbing into bed. 

“Mark?” Yuta whispers as he squints to see who it is better. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m giving you a gift, like you gave me the flower. Can I get into the bed?”

It takes a few seconds before the question registers in Yuta’s mind, but when he processes it, Yuta nods. Mark slips into the bed and waits for Yuta to turn on his side before gently wrapping his arms around, just like Yuta had done to Mark the night before. 

“Um, it’s okay if we sleep like this again, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Yuta answers warmly. He snuggles into the hug, a happy feeling spreading throughout his body. “Good night Mark.”

“Good night Yuta,” Mark responds in an already sleepy voice. 

With this atmosphere, the foreboding events of tomorrow almost slip away from Yuta’s mind, but when he closes his eyes, that’s what comes up first. Yuta breathes steadily, trying to change his thoughts in order to sleep. It doesn’t work. 

He focuses on the positives instead. Mark. Tomorrow Mark will no longer have the curse. Tomorrow he will finally be able to protect Mark. Tomorrow his parents will finally be honored and proud. 

Somehow his brain tracks this train of thoughts and carries Yuta off to his memories of his parents. He’s suppressed many of them for too long, only keeping a few in mind. 

But if he’s going to be protecting their legacy tomorrow, memories are better found again than left alone. Yuta closes his eyes and begins to remember. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  _ Nakamoto’s Family Tragedy _

_ “Nakamoto Sayumi! Nakamoto Mahiro! Rise and become our newly anointed knights!” Yuta stood at a side crowd, clapping in fascination as his Mom and Dad were knighted by the King and Queen. Shina stood by his side, holding a baby Ayaka in her arms. At this time, Yuta was only about 3 years old.  _

_ 9 years later _

_ “Mom! Yuta ate the only strawberry tart again! I  _ told _ him that one was mine!” Shina complained to her Mother. Sayumi walked over to her daughter, hiding the concern on her brow with a plastered smile and seating her oldest down at the table.  _

_ “There will be more tarts Shina. Yuta, come over here and apologize to your sister.”  _

_ Yuta groaned and trudged over. “Sorry Shina,” he mumbled.  _

_ “What was that Yuta?” His mother holds up a hand to her ear.  _

_ “I said, I’m sorry Shina.”  _

_ “Better, now, come sit by me. Your father and I have something to discuss with you.” _

_ \- - - _

_ “What! You’re going on some wild goose chase just because the King and Queen want some more jewelry for their already packed collection?” _

_ “Shina,” their father spoke, “It’ll just be for a short while. The King and Queen specifically requested we go on this journey. As their personal Knights, we can’t refuse. While we’re gone, you and your brother need to take care of your younger sister, can you do that?” _

_ Shina crossed her arms. “Yeah, I guess.” _

_ “Yuta?” _

_ Yuta looked at his father. He said it was a short time but the letter in front of him said four months, and that is not a short time. “I- I can do that. You’ll return right away, right?” _

_ “Of course,” his mother reassured.  _

_ “Promise?” Yuta asked. Her smile wavered.  _

_ “Of course.” They hooked their pinkies, and 12-year-old Yuta blindly believed her lie. _

_ \- - - _

_ “Did you hear?” _

_ “Hear what?” _

_ “About the Nakamotos!” _

_ “No, what happened?” _

_ “Apparently the King and Queen sent them on a suicide mission! It was going to be immpossible for them to return alive but they went anyways.” _

_ “Their poor children…” _

_ “I wonder what will happen to them? The King and Queen seem to have some kind of vendetta against the Nakamotos, you don’t think assassins will be sent after them?” _

_ “They’re harmless children, they wouldn’t.” _

_ “Yes, but the King and Queen aren’t harmless people.” _

_ \- - - _

_ “Shina!” Yuta burst through the door, tears streaking down his face. The entire run home he had spent exhausting his legs to get home quick enough. Shina stood by the table, a letter in her hands. “Shina?” _

_ The letter fell to the floor, and when Shina turned around, tears spilled out from her eyes. Neither knew what to do. They cried and cried, hugging one another on the ground.  _

_ When Ayaka returned from daycare, it was their responsibility to let their 8-year-old sister know that their parents were never returning, ever.  _

_ Before Sayumi and Mahiro Left _

_ “Shina, Yuta, Ayaka. There’s something very important we want to remind you about before we go. I know we’ve talked about this before but listen closely. _

_ Our family has a duty. A role, a responsibility, something we must always carry out. And that task is to protect the crown Prince Lee Minhyung. His parents are nasty and cruel people, who barely even care about their own son. _

_ But he is the future of this Kingdom, and we owe him our servitude. You must always remember to protect Mark. Protect him at all costs. Keep your bonds with one another, and hopefully when you grow, this can connect you all together as well.” _

_ All three of them had heard this speech before, thousands of times over, but something about the way their parents said it on that date was different. Every word buried into their heads, burning itself forever into their memories. _

_ Those were the last words spoken to them by their parents. All of them vowed to never forget and to always uphold their parent’s wishes.  _

_ After Sayumi and Mahiro Died _

_ “I’ll kill them!” Yuta screamed, throwing a chair to the side.  _

_ “Yuta! Calm down! Those were just rumors, why would the King and Queen send their best guards on a suicide mission?” Shina tried to reason with him, but Yuta’s festering hurt and rage was too much.  _

_ “It was them! They sent them on it, I hate them!” _

_ “Yuta-”  _

_ Yuta slams a fist on the table. “No. I’m going there now. They can’t just do this!” _

_ “Yuta, don’t you dare step out of this house!”  _

_ The door shut tight in Shina’s face, Yuta being the culprit behind it’s tumultuous closing.  _

_ \- - - _

_ Yuta ran to the hidden back entrance of the castle, slipping inside unnoticed easily. He held a butcher's knife in his hand, which he snagged from the kitchen upon entering. Blinded by rage, and trying to suppress the grief of losing his parents, Yuta headed straight for the throne room.  _

_ The two doors were wide open, their entryway inviting Yuta inside. Cautiously, he tip-toed in, dashing behind one of the large doors to hide. He peeked over it’s edge, and found the two thrones to be empty. Yuta walked over to them, staring at the abandoned chairs while his blood boiled and bubbled thinking of who sat there.  _

_ An arm wrapped around him, pulling him back. Yuta thrashed at the impact and accidentally dropped the knife. He tried to attack his aggressor, clawing at the arm in an attempt to get it off him. The person pulled him back into one of the large red curtains, then released him.  _

_ Ready to fight whoever it was, Yuta froze when his sister faced him head on. She looked pissed, but placed him at her side and held a finger up to signal to be silent.  _

Tap. Tap. Tap.  _ Footsteps sounded against the throne room’s floor. Yuta’s heart followed each step, beating along with the noise.  _

_ He opened the curtain just a bit, making a small peephole. Shina tried to close it but they fought until the sound of a second set of steps silenced them both. _

_ The King and Queen stood but a few meters away. Yuta felt Shina’s hands on his shoulders, holding him back from doing anything.  _

_ “Are you sure they’re dead?” The Queen asked her husband. Yuta watched in horror as the King smirked and nodded.  _

_ “I sent Kun to make sure. He found their bodies.” _

_ “Good riddance,” the Queen smiled, “now our little problem is gone.” _

_ “Yes,” the King stepped towards her and Yuta silently gagged as the two shared a kiss. His grip on the curtains was gradually becoming tighter, and so was Shina’s grasp on his shoulders.  _

_ There was only one thing they could be talking about right then: their parents.  _

_ “Hm, didn’t the traitors have children?” _

_ The King shrugged. “I never cared enough to remember. Besides, even if they do, those parasites will die soon enough without their parents.” The laughs that came from their mouths shook Yuta to his core. Everything inside him at that moment was screaming to jump out from those red constraints and avenge his parents, but Shina’s head fell onto his shoulder, stopping him. In the next moment, he felt something wet on his shoulder.  _

_ Was Shina… crying? _

_ Yuta lost focus as the King and Queen spoke together for the next minute, then left when a guard came to report something. He couldn’t figure out why his chest was pulling him in seven different directions yet his body couldn’t make any movements.  _

_ With the tyrants gone, Yuta closed the curtain’s gap and turned around to face his sister. Fresh tears laid patterns on her face, a redness around her eyes begged him to listen to her.  _

_ “Yuta, please, we need to go home.” _

_ “Shina, I can do it. I can kill them for Mom and Dad,” he began to choke on his words, “I don’t care if I’m killed after! You heard them, they killed Mom and Dad!” _

_ “Yuta!” Shina sobbed, she held his shoulders and shook him a bit. “I know! But we can’t lose you too! You think I want to let them get away with this? They will pay someday, but it can’t be today. Ayaka needs us!.” _

_ Yuta looked away, crying now. Shina was always right, but his feelings are always just as strong a voice to him.  _

_ Shina hugged him close to her chest. “Remember what Mom and Dad told us. We have to protect each other, and then we have to protect the Prince. We can’t do that without all three of us. When we do so someday, all of us will come out on the other side.”  _

_ Snot poured down Yuta’s face now, draining from his nose, and his chest rose and fell in heavy sobs. He kept the noise contained, but his silent breathing quickened until Shina held him so close he could only smell her peach flower scent.  _

_ “Let’s go home.” Yuta looked up to her with tired eyes. Shina nodded and checked for anyone in the throne room before carefully stepping out of the red curtains with Yuta. He clung to her side, tears still falling. On their way back to the hidden exit, he managed to clean up his face from all the snot and calm his breathing a bit. Once he got home, he could ugly cry all he wanted, but first he had to make it back safely with Shina. Ayaka was waiting after all.  _

_ They turned down the last hallway and as they turned, the sight of a small boy tripping over his own feet met them. Yuta let go of his sister and stepped towards the boy. He extended a hand and the boy looked up, eyes gleaming with oncoming tears.  _

_ “Are you okay?” Yuta asked him. The boy took his hand and stood up. His clothes were a bit ruffled from the fall, but they looked proper and clean, hardly any wrinkles on his shirt. A realization hit Yuta as he stared into the boy’s brown eyes. This was  _ the _ Prince.  _

_ The Prince wiped a tear away and sniffled a bit. “Yeah,” he said in a high pitched voice. As Yuta looked over the Prince, an image of his parents flashed before his eyes. This was the boy they were so intent on protecting after all.  _

_ Yuta’s brows lowered and he bit his lip. In a sudden impulse, he took the boys into his arms and whispered to him, “Someday you will be well protected, I promise, Mark.” Shina pulled him off Mark and gave Yuta a look.  _

_ “I’m sorry, we must be going.” As she dragged Yuta away, he was able to see Mark’s eyes once more, widened, but now holding a certain sparkle in them. Yuta realized Mark and Ayaka were about the same age as he trekked down the hall; internally he promised to himself that he’d work forever to keep all three safe: Shina, Ayaka, and Mark. And when he does, he’ll be protecting his parents through them.  _

🃁🃁🃁🃁

#  Day 7

Yuta is barely allowed time for breakfast. He stuffs a single toast in his mouth and then is pulled away by Kun to the throne room. For the next hour Kun goes over everything about how the transfer will work, still not mentioning any of what the actual curse is. 

“There may be a bit of pain and discomfort,” Kun tells him. 

Yuta nervously laughs. “Oh, wonderful.”

“Don’t worry, it shouldn’t feel more than a pinch,” Kun reassures him. Currently, Yuta’s insides are twisting all around, both in nervousness and a slight excitement. He’s finally going to do what his parents asked, and he’s finally able to help Mark in his own way. 

Mark is led into the room, two guards by his sides. The King and Queen follow after and walk around Yuta, taking their places at the two thrones. Mark comes to his side but is forced to back up by the two guards. He gives a little smile to Yuta, but it’s shaky and pained. 

“Kun,” the Queen speaks, “we don’t need to go over what the curse is. I have a feeling Yuta has already figured it out.” 

“Oh,” Kun looks at him, then back at the Queen, “okay.”

“Start,” she commands. Her eyes pierce at Yuta and he knows exactly what’s behind them. She's reminding him of what he must do after this is over. 

Kun comes up to him and nods, Yuta takes a deep breath and returns the nod. He gives a reassuring look to Mark before closing his eyes. 

“I’m going now.” Within seconds, a slight wind picks up in the room. Yuta can feel a pulse coming from where Kun stands in front of him. 

A first pulse spikes through Yuta and makes him stumble a bit, forcing his eyes open. Purple and teal lights spark around Kun, he moves his hand and they circle faster and faster around him till they shoot out, causing another pulse. This time, Yuta feels something attach inside him, and a force tugs him towards Mark. He looks over at the Prince, who is being held back by the two guards. Mark meets his eyes, but in an instant he falls to the ground, the two guards rushing to hold him up. 

Yuta tries to take a step forward to make sure Mark is okay, but a shooting pain explodes in his chest, fragments of it spreading throughout his entire body. Yuta falls to his knees, holding anywhere because the pain is everywhere. His eyes widen as Mark’s shadow begins to shift and change into small strips of ribbon shapes. They float around a bit, before becoming corporeal in the air. Yuta raises his head to watch as they lock on to him and come towering down, shooting into his arms and legs: surrounding him entirely. 

A scream escapes from Yuta as the spears of shadow begin to twist around him, and suddenly every shadow in the room rises from it’s place and circles, creating a cyclone of darkness around him.

He stands, the pressure of the shadows’ vortex forcing him up. Needles poke and prod him in every direction, paralyzing Yuta temporarily in the position he’s standing in. He’s able to see Mark wake up, then try to reach out for him, but the guards hold him back as he collapses again. 

The pain is too much for Yuta to fight, so he gives in and lets the shadows beat him around. 

“This is stronger than it should be!” Kun shouts through the tornado spinning the air around the room. 

“It doesn’t matter! Keep going!” The King yells back. 

Yuta screams again and begins to rise, the shadows carrying him up and stretching him thin. A last punch ricochets throughout his entire existence, buzzing and blurring the world around him. The only thing Yuta is able to see are flying shadows that scream in his head, whispering undecipherable phrases. 

The shadows drop Yuta to the ground and he hits it with a  _ thud _ . Everything goes black. 

🃁🃁🃁🃁

Yuta wakes up with everything aching. Kun is by his bedside and Yuta attempts to sit up, but the pain activates all over, making him wince and stop all movements. 

“Don’t get up yet,” Kun hurriedly tells him, “Yuta I’m so sorry, I didn’t know… it wasn’t supposed to be that strong. It’s never been like that with Mark.”

_ Mark. _ Yuta shoots up, ignoring the pain. “Where is he? Is he okay? It’s transferred right?”

“Yes, don’t worry. Mark only was weakened when the curse left him, but he’s sleeping right now to recover. You should be doing the same.”

Yuta looks around the room, eyes resting on his closet where an already packed bag lies inside. There’s provisions and two bags of coins included in there, enough to sustain him for a while after he leaves. 

“Hey Kun,” Yuta says, not looking away from his wardrobe, “I’m thirsty, can you get me some water?”

“Of course, but after you better go back to resting.”

“I will,” Yuta responds, a fake smile convincing the warlock. Once Kun closes the door, Yuta takes a deep breath and slips out of his bed. Upon his first few steps, he stumbles a bit, legs weak and wobbly. Something else is strange too. The direction his shadow falls in weighs him down, pulling Yuta down with two weights upon his shoulders. 

_ Is this what Mark had to deal with all the time?  _

He finally makes it to the closet and grabs the bag inside, dragging it across the floor. Thankfully, with each step, he’s able to put some of the aching in the back of his mind and ignore it until he can appear to be walking normally. 

His walk is slow, but Yuta goes as fast as he can to reach the back exit. He winces with each advance still, but uses the castle walls to help prop himself up. 

Eventually it becomes too much and he falls to the floor, breathing heavily and hugging his knees. Yuta rests himself against the wall, hidden behind a display of armor in case any servants come by. 

“What are you still doing here?” A harsh voice hisses at him. “We agreed the moment it’s transferred you leave.” The King and Queen stand above him and Yuta groans. 

“Yeah, I’m trying but you didn’t tell me it would hurt like  _ that _ .”

The King scoffs, “It’s not our fault we didn’t know. But I’m impressed, you aren’t putting up any fight. Otherwise we could’ve used a really good threat against you.”

The Queen begins to evilly laugh and Yuta glares at the ground, not wanting to look up at them. “Now Doyun, it would be such a waste not to tell him what we know. It can only further make sure he never returns and doesn’t try to go home.” Yuta snaps his head up. “Oh? Are you interested to hear?”

His breathing quickens.  _ What did they find out? _

“Let’s just say that if you ever try to return to Gwadong, we  _ will  _ find out, and then it won’t only be you whom we kill. We’ll slice off the heads of your sisters too, Mr. Nakamoto.” 

Yuta stops breathing. His eyes widen. _ They know. _

The King closes in on him, a menacing look in his eyes and a repulsive smirk on his face. “But I suppose, that option may be more enjoyable for me and my wife since we’d get to wipe out the entire Nakamoto family.” Yuta grits his teeth and shoves the King back, hard. He grabs his bag and scrambles up, sprinting off down the hallway, nostrils flaring. A sickening laugh echoes down the hall, tearing him apart. The world blurs at it’s edges, the pain inside him multiplied, but Yuta pushes onwards. 

“Yuta!” He freezes. “Yuta!” Mark screams after him down the hall. “Yuta stop! Where are you going!”

He knows he needs to move, but the voice of his friend is grounding, gluing his feet where they’ve stopped. Yuta tries to take a step but nothing will work.  _ Come on! Move! _

Mark appears in front of him, concern plastered on his brow, a pain behind his eyes. “What are you…” Mark looks down at the bag in his hand, he reaches for it, gently grazing it with his fingers. “Are you…?”

The King and Queen come bounding to Mark’s side, panting when they arrive. 

“What’s going on here?” The King asks through labored breaths. 

Mark looks up into Yuta’s eyes, a devastating pout formed on his lips. “I think Yuta is leaving…”

Yuta forces his gaze away from Mark, feeling the flutters in his stomach reverse and guilt surging within him. 

“Yuta, why did you pack for more than just going home?” Mark questions. 

“What?” The Queen fake-ly gasps. 

Mark reaches for Yuta’s arm but he pulls it away. 

“Yuta, please. Don’t go, not yet.” 

Yuta swallows. His eyes meet with the Queen’s and she scowls at him, a deathly look in her snarling face. 

“Sorry Mark, but the curse is transferred now. I don’t want to be a reminder of everything you’ve suffered through.” Yuta tries to offer Mark a smile but he can see the doubt and pain flickering in his friend’s eyes. 

Mark spins to both of his parents. “Mom! Dad! Please tell Yuta he needs to stay here to rest a bit longer. Yuta, I don’t care, you can stay here for a little while. I can teach you how to deal with the curse, how to make it better.”

The King places a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Minhyung, I think Mr. Nakamoto might want to go home to his family.”

“No-” Mark pauses. 

_ Shoot. _

“Nakamoto?”

Yuta steps back. “Mark, I need to go, I’m sorry.” He pushes past the three of them, but a hand catches his wrist. 

“Don’t go. I don’t care if you lied about something. That only means I have more to learn about you. Just for a bit, stay. Let me help you like you helped me.” 

He knows it’s a bad idea, but Yuta turns his head and faces Mark. He caves and drops the bag. The King and Queen take a step forward but before they can say anything, Mark silences them. 

“He’s staying.”

“Minhyung-”

“No, tell me why you won’t let him stay for just a bit? Is there any reason?”

The King and Queen speak no answer to their son’s question. Yuta raises his eyebrows at them, daring them to say it. 

The King laughs, fake-ly. “Right, Son. We have no reason. He may stay for a bit.” Mark grins and his parents leave, glaring at Yuta as they walk away. 

Yuta exhales and collapses into Mark’s arms. The younger doesn’t expect the hug, but he holds Yuta close. 

“Now you will be well protected. I promise, Mark.”

Yuta has protected the Prince, but now, it’s time for him to protect Mark. 

🂡🂡🂡🂡

~End of Part 1~


End file.
